Pabna’s Ishwardi, which is known as the capital of litchi and mango pods is drying up due to severe drought and intense heat waves. Pods are falling heavily. Watering at the base of the tree cannot stop the rotting. As a result, the farmers fear that the yield of litchi will be ruined. Ishwardi is famous for producing juicy and delicious litchi, the trees bud in mid-Baishakh, and the green pods of litchi emerge from the buds in the month of Chaitra. There were a record number of buds on each tree this year. The pod is also quite good from the bud. So, this time the farmers were hoping for a good yield of litchi. But from last March 28 till now April 18, 22 days in litchi pods are falling due to intense heat. So, there is a fear of breaking the dreams of litchi farmers. This year litchi pods were more than in previous years. Almost every tree had lots of pods. However severe drought, adverse weather conditions, severe drying of litchi pods, and shedding of pods are likely to cause crop failure.
Mostafizur Rahman village of Jinnakudi in Chirirband upazila of Dinajpur, famous for litchi plantation area, said with extreme disappointment, 'Last year I sold litchi from 70 trees of litchi from my garden for Tk 2, 70,000. Almost all the pods have fallen due to severe drought this year.I couldn't stop the discharge even with a lot of water.The garden is not being sold even for Tk 40 thousand.
Ishwardi upazila agriculture officer Mita Sarkar said, “3,100 hectares of litchi have been planted in Ishwardi. But due to severe drought and intense heat flow, litchi pods are falling off a lot. In such a situation, we are giving advice to the farmers to take proper care of the litchi garden and use pesticides as necessary to prevent the litchi from falling. Department of the Agricultural Extension in Pabna Deputy Director Dr. Jamal Uddin said, "There are 4,721 hectares of litchi orchards in Pabna district and the production target has been set at 37,768 metric tons. Mango orchards are 2,730 hectares and the production target is 40,900 metric tons.
ZH
