Juicy lichee smiles on Magura growers

Bunches of juicy lichee (above) being packed at an orchard in Ichhakhada village in Magura. PHOTO: STAR

This year they sold lichee of about Tk 12 crore from their 800 orchards, according to farmers and agriculture officials.

"Now a days, a farmer earns Tk. 60 to 70 thousand by growing lichee on one bigha land while paddy or jute brought only Tk 5 to 6 thousand earlier", Assistant Agriculture Officer Abdur Rashid told this correspondent.

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The 800 gardens cover about 1000 acres of land, he said.

During his visit to the villages this correspondent saw most of the farmers in 12 villages including Ichhakhada, Hazrapur, Khalimpur, Mithapur, Narihati, Birpur, Pucca-kanchanpur, Uthali and Nandalalpur busy in harvesting lichi.

According to them, being failure to achieve good output in paddy or jute cultivation for years, most of them have engaged themselves in lichee growing.

Success of lichee growers in 12 villages is now a topic of discussion for many villagers and officials in Magura and adjoining district.

Agriculture and horticulture officials often visit the lichee orchards now and tell others to follow the example.

Farmers in the area always remain busy nursing their orchards that have brought them fortune, they said.

The farmers earlier had been passing hard time due to frequent crop failure. Fortune smiled on them after they met Assistant Agriculture Officer of Magura Agriculture Extension Department (AED) Abdur Rashid in 1993.

Inspired by him, Sakhawat Hossain and 13 other farmers in Ichhakhada village planted lichi plants on about 15 bighas of land in the village. They could not imagine that someday this would bring fortune.

"Being influenced by Abdur Rashid, we gave more time and labour to nurse the plants", he farmers told this correspondent during a visit to the area.

As the plants grew, other AED officials from Magura visited their orchards and gave assistance.

"In 1998, I earned about Tk 60,000. The total cost was about Tk 1000 only", Sakhawat Hossain said.

"In 2000, I earned about Tk one lakh. Others in the village also earned hefty amounts. It was beyond our imagination", a giggling Sakhwat said.

Their success inspired others in nearby villages and they also raised lichi orchards on their lands instead of cultivating jute or paddy.

"This year I earned about Tk three lakh from my lichi orchards on five bighas", Sakhawat further informed.

Lichi cultivation needs small investment but the return is big.

Now is the peak harvesting season. Traders from Dhaka, Faridpur, Barishal, Manikgong, Shatkhira and Matharipur come to the area every day. At least two truckloads of lichi are supplied from the orchards in the area every day now, farmers said.