Commercial litchi farming is gradually gaining popularity in the country as acreage under the litchi cultivation has doubled in a decade, officials and traders said.
Litchi cultivators who expect a bumper production of the juicy summer fruit this year say they would be able to recoup the losses they incurred last year when production fell by nearly 20 per cent.
This year's higher production has also helped ease the price of the item in the city markets.
According to city fruit retailers, litchi from Sonargaon in Narayanganj, Bandarban, Narsingdi and greater Jessore district is available in the markets since the beginning of this month.
Litchi from Ishwardi, one of the major litchi hubs in the country, has recently entered the market.
But litchi from Dinajpur, Rangpur and Rajshahi is yet to arrive in city markets, retailers said.
One hundred pieces of litchis are now selling at Tk 150-250, down from Tk50-60 last year.
Growers in Dinajpur, Rangpur, Ishwardi in Pabna and Rajshahi are expecting a bumper production this year like that of 2013 thanks to favourable weather conditions.
Horticulture Wing under Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) director Md Rafiqul Hasan said this year more than 7,000 hectares of land have been brought under litchi farming of which 90 per cent are under commercial and the rest are under homestead (households and government offices) farming.
"We are expecting 20,000 tonnes of litchi this year of which 10,000 tonnes from Dinajpur and 7,000 tonnes from Ishwardi," he said.
Mr Hasan said 3,400 hectares of land were brought under litchi cultivation in the fiscal year (FY) 2003-04 which had almost doubled in a decade.
Md Safiquzzaman Nishu, a garden owner at Dashuria under Ishwardi, told the FE: "My father started litchi farming on two bighas of land. I've expanded it to 10 bighas."
He said a farmer can sell litchi worth minimum Tk 0.150 million from 20 trees that covered one bigha of land when he witnessed gradual losses in crops like rice, vegetables, maize or jute.
"Yes, there are risk factors as we witness decline in production like in 2008, 2012 and 2014 following unfavourable weather conditions, but that means our profit margin reduced."
Bombay variety of litchi is mainly grown in Ishwardi, he said and pointed out that litchi gardening has pushed up land prices in his upazila.
"Per decimal land in Dashuria (his locality) was hardly Tk 0.2-0.25 million ten years back which is now Tk 1.5 to 1.8 million," he said.
Upazila Agriculture Officer Khurshid Alam told the FE that nearly 2,500 hectares of land have been brought under litchi farming this year which was 2,450 hectares last year.
Mr Alam said litchi was cultivated on only 1,200 hectares of land in the upazila ten years back.
Assistant agriculture officer of Birampur upazila in Dinajpur Md Sarwar Jaman told the FE that litchi farming is increasing gradually in Dinajpur district.
He said now 4,000 hectares of land have been brought under commercial litchi farming which was 1,500 hectares in 2006-07.
The acreage has tripled in the area thanks to the quality and higher demand for Dinajpur litchi both at home and abroad, he added.
Dinajpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Md Mosaddeque Hossain told the FE that litchi contributes highest to the Dinajpur economy after rice, stone and coal.
Annual transaction of the sector is above Tk 8.0 billion in the district, he said and pointed out that honey collectors also collect honey worth Tk 500 million annually from Dinajpur litchi gardens.
According to Dinajpur, Rangpur and Ishwardi Mokams (local markets of raw agricultural produce), the value of the traded litchis is more than Tk 15 billion per season in those areas.
Bangladesh Fruits, Vegetables and Allied Products Exporters Association (BFVAPEA) data show that the country exports fruits worth Tk 4.7 billion annually of which litchi accounts for 20 per cent.
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