HILI — Lychee farmers in Hili, Hakimpur, in Dinajpur district had hoped for a bumper harvest this year, but erratic weather has knocked those hopes off course. Rain at the time the trees were in flower caused many blossoms to fall, and immature fruit is now dropping from the trees because of the severe heat. Farmers are worried. The local agriculture department says it is offering growers all possible guidance to address the problem.
Dinajpur district, famous for lychees, produces large quantities each year in the district town and surrounding upazilas, meeting local demand and shipping the rest to Dhaka and other parts of the country. Earlier this year, lychee orchards across Hili were heavy with blossoms, and growers were hopeful. But unexpected rain during the flowering period knocked many blossoms to the ground. A severe heat wave over the past several days is now causing the small developing fruit to drop. Farmers say they have been unable to stop the loss even with watering and pesticide sprays. If the unfavorable weather continues, growers say, the expected lychee harvest will be disrupted and they will face losses this year.
Aslam Hossain, a lychee farmer from Jalalpur village, said, “There were plenty of blossoms on the trees this year. But because of the adverse weather, when the blossoms were on the trees, sudden rain caused most of them to fall off. And the ones that remained were at the small-fruit stage, but they have been falling off because of the heat over the past few days. Spraying water and pesticides has not been able to stop the loss. We will not even recover what we have spent.”
Yakub, a worker, said, “I look after this orchard — pesticide spraying, watering, everything. There are far fewer lychees on the trees this year than usual. Because of that, the owner is facing losses on lychee cultivation. When the blossoms came out, rain reduced the number, and now the small fruit on the trees is falling off because of the severe heat over the past few days.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report