­­­­­­­Litchi growers unhappy with poor bloom

With the Bangla month of Falgun begun, litchi trees are now in bloom.

But litchi growers in Ishwardi upazila of Pabna are unhappy since the trees have grown more new leaves than buds this time. As such, the production of the juicy summer fruit is likely to see a decline this year.

Around 70-80 percent of litchi trees have produced new leaves instead of buds, growers say, adding that they have never witnessed such a large-scale decline in fruit production.

Agriculture officials could not confirm the reason behind the trees blooming so less. However, they guessed that impact of climate change could be one of the reasons.

Litchi is being grown in orchards across around 4,000 hectares in the district, including 3,100 hectares in Ishwardi upazila alone, according to sources at the Department of Agricultural Extension in Pabna.

Shajahan Ali Badsha, a leading litchi grower in the upazila, said of the 600 litchi trees in his orchard, some 120-150 trees have grown buds while the rest have mostly grown new leaves.

"In the last 40 years, this has never been the case. Every year around 50-60 percent of the trees bear fruits, but this time some 20-25 percent trees would be productive perhaps," he also said.

"Growers in Ishwardi sell litchi worth around Tk 2,000 crore every season, but business may witness drastic slump this year due to poor production," Badsha added.

Meanwhile, litchi traders are alarmed by the poor bloom in the trees this season.

"I bought 200 litchi trees spending Tk 5 lakh, much higher than it took me last year. If the production slumps, I will incur significant losses," said Md Mirajul Islam, a seasonal litchi trader.

Md Rakibul Islam, a farmer and also a seasonal litchi trader, echoed him.

Contacted, Mita Sarkar, upazila agriculture officer in Ishwardi, said, "We are not certain why so many trees are growing new leaves while few are budding this time. It could be due to impact of climate change. We are monitoring the situation. We will calculate the trees with buds to project litchi production after the blooming time ends."