Ishwardi (Pabna) Correspondent :
The litchi growers of Ishwardi, which is famous for its lychee stock, are facing losses due to adulterated pesticides and hostile weather. Due to the crop failure, litchi is small in size and taste is less than other times. Insects have attacked litchi in cocoon stage. Insect infestation in ripe litchi is noticeable this time. Farmers are blaming bad weather and adulterated pesticides for this.
According to the Upazila Agriculture Department, litchi has been planted in 3,350 hectares of land in Ishwardi. The number of litchi trees is over three and a half lakh. Ninety percent of the trees have yielded litchi this time. Although litchi cultivation is high, farmers are deprived of the desired price due to its small size and fading.
Saif Uddin Yahya, Deputy Assistant Agriculture Officer in charge of Joynagar, Baraichara and Mirkamari in Salimpur union, also known as Ishwardi’s litchi village, said one of the reasons for the small size of litchi and high insect infestation was bad weather. When the litchi pods were shaped like beans, the farmers could not spray pesticides on the pods due to severe drought. If sprayed at that time, the cocoon would fall off due to drought. Later, after the rain, spraying on the cocoon, but it did not work.
Insects were attacked because they do not spray the required amount of pesticides at the specified time. In addition, some litchi growers have sprayed unlicensed adulterated pesticides on litchi pods to kill insects. Which did not work.
Upazila Agriculture Extension Officer Mahmudul Alam Khan said the main reason for not growing litchi was bad weather. If it had rained in time, there would not have been such a catastrophe in litchi yield. Moreover, the farmers have used more fertilizers and pesticides than the quantity. Many have destroyed litchi using unauthorized fertilizers and pesticides. The Department of Consumer Protection and the Department of Agriculture have launched several campaigns against sellers of adulterated fertilizers, zinc and pesticides. 20 tons of adulterated pesticides, zinc and fertilizer were seized and the sellers were fined. He further said that the seized fertilizers and pesticides have been sent to Rajshahi Soil Resources Development Institute for testing. So far no such report has been received. However, initially it can be assumed that these are fake and adulterated.
Shamsul Alam, president of the Upazila Retail Fertilizer and Pesticide Dealers Association, said, “I am a litchi farmer myself. From my own experience, it was not possible to spray pesticides on litchi pods due to lack of rain. If sprayed with extreme heat then the cocoon would fall off. I have heard that there is talk of adulteration of fertilizers and pesticides.
Those who are real traders will never sell adulterated fertilizers and pesticides. Those whose fertilizers and pesticides have been confiscated and fined are seasonal and opportunistic traders. Farmers have to be careful of these. We have repeatedly warned the fertilizer traders not to sell counterfeit and adulterated products. Even then, if anyone is involved in this, the administration must take action against him.
Shahmat Mandal, a litchi farmer from Mirkamari village of the upazila, said, “Litchi has come to every tree but our misfortune has been ruined due to adulterated fertilizers and pesticides.” The quality of litchi is very bad. That is why the price is low.
Shafiqul Islam, a litchi farmer from Mirkamari Habupara, said that the insects would have died if they had been given pesticides of ordinary companies. This time the pesticide of the reputed company did not work. This time 50 percent of litchi has been destroyed by insects.
Minal Sheikh, a businessman from Moksedpur upazila of Gopalganj, bought a litchi garden in Maniknagar village. He said, I bought the garden with Tk6 lakh. The size of litchi has become so small that it will be difficult to raise one lakh rupees by selling it. He blamed the fertilizer and pesticide traders for the size of litchi.
Abdul Jalil alias Lichu Kitab, a litchi farmer who received the National Bangabandhu Agriculture Medal, said that seeing good yields at the beginning of the season, agriculture officials and garden owners hoped that this time litchi yields would surpass all past records. The sale of litchi produced by Ishwardi will be Tk 500 cr. But due to the small size of litchi, it may not be possible this time.
Litchi Kitab also said that this time there has been massive production of litchi. Although the production is high, the amount of waste is also high. Not when it needed to rain. Besides, the quality of the fertilizers and pesticides I used was not good. As a result, the farmers are facing losses this time.
Upazila Agriculture Officer Mita Sarkar said litchi yield in Ishwardi was relatively bad this time due to hostile weather and ineffectiveness of pesticides. Farmers and garden owners have suffered financially. In order to prevent crop failure in future, action will be taken in consultation with the farmers.
