Malda: ‘Good yield of litchi to makeup for dip in mango produce this year’

Malda: Litchi, one of the most important produce of Malda, is all set to have a bumper yield this year, feels the Horticulture department and farmers. Unless there is sudden heavy rains or storms, all seems to be going well with the fruits maturing on the trees. In a season that has been bad for mango production, litchi is expected to make up, at least to some extent. The farmers are looking forward to the first half of June for the fruits to hit the market.

Weather forecasts state that Malda along with the state is going to have rains for next 4 days from Friday which is to contribute to the size of the fruits. Both the local and Bombai varieties of litchis are going to be benefitted by the rains in growth and ripening. Samanta Layek, deputy director of district Horticulture department, said: “We can expect at least 15k metric tons of litchi production from the Malda district this season. Though mango production has already been affected heavily, litchi will be abundant. The already ripened fruits on the trees will further grow in size with the rains this time. Obviously, storms are not welcome at this stage of the production.”

Malda litchis, specially the Bombai variety which forms 75 per cent of the total production, is very popular among the fruit lovers for the bright red colour, bigger size and juicy sweet pulp. These are sent to Bihar, Jharkhand and even to Maharashtra. The shelf life of the fruits is a maximum of 48 hours else they could be sent to far away places, feel experts.

Abdul Khalek, a litchi farmer of Kaliachak, said: “The trees are now overloaded with the fruits and we are to make a good profit if the weather doesn’t change drastically.

Usually we protect the fruits from monkeys and birds by covering the whole tree with nets.” Kaliachak I Block is the biggest producer of litchi in Malda. Then comes Ratua I, Ratua II and Kaliachak III blocks.