Ishwardi (Pabna) Correspondent :
Lychee pods are falling in Ishwardi due to severe drought and extreme heatwave. The farmers fear that the yield of lychee will be affected. Mozaffarpuri variety of litchi known as desi lychee is falling more. Bombay lychee has also started to fall.
In Ishwardi, famous for producing delicious and juicy lychee, the trees bud in the middle of Baisakh and the green pods of lychee emerge from the buds in the month of Chaitra. Now when you look at lychee tree, you can see small green lumps. This year there was a record number of buds on each tree. The bud has also emerged quite well. Farmers were hoping for a good yield of lychee this time. But from last March 28 to April 16, lychee pods started to fall due to continuous moderate and intense heat. There is a fear of breaking the dreams of lychee farmers.
According to the office of the Upazila Agriculture Officer, lychee has been planted on 3 thousand 100 hectares of land in Ishwardi. As the weather has been favorable, every lychee tree has now produced good buds. The agriculture department is expecting a good yield of lychee.
On entering Mirkamari, Maniknagar, Bakhtarpur, Jagannathpur, Bansherbada, Jaynagar, Sahapur, Aotapara, Charsahapur and Bansherbada, known as lychee villages of the upazila, rows of lychee gardens can be seen. Green pods can be seen hanging between the leaves of lychee. This year lychee is also much more than last few years. Almost every plant has a large amount of pods.
Abdul Jalil Kitab Mandal, aka lychee Kitab, a gold medalist farmer in lychee, said that due to severe drought for a few days, all the pods of lychee are falling off the trees. Even by spraying water and medicine at night and in the morning, smallpox cannot be prevented. If the government supports the farmers by providing irrigation and pesticide equipment with small loans, the farmers will benefit to some extent.
Mustafa Zaman Nayan, a pesticide and fertilizer dealer of Maniknagar village, said that due to severe drought, lychee pods are falling. Farmers come to us for advice to prevent smallpox. We are liaising with agriculture officials and providing pesticides to farmers to prevent smallpox.
Agriculture sub-assistant officer of Salimpur union of the upazila Saifuddin Yahya said, “Due to severe drought, lychee pods are falling. Farmers are advised to take proper care of litchi gardens and use pesticides as needed.
Upazila Agriculture Officer Mita Sarkar said that due to excessive temperature lychee pods are falling. Irrigation is not an option in extreme heat. For this reason, farmers are advised to irrigate lychee trees.