The state government and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (Barc) signed an MoU on Monday on use of a technology to increase the shelf life of litchis. The estimated project cost is Rs 9.5 crore.

Principal agriculture secretary Sudhir Kumar and Barc scientists were present during signing of the agreement under which the Bihar government will use the technology that Barc has invented to increase the shelf life of the fruit. Agriculture director Himanshu Kumar Rai and horticulture director Arvinder Singh were also present.

"The agreement will prove to be a boon for litchi farmers, as availability of litchis in the market till now is confined to hardly a month," Sudhir told reporters on Monday. "The use of this technology will help increase the shelf life of litchis to another two months, helping fetch a better price for the farmers."

Barc scientist Subrata Chattopadhyay explained: "Under the new technology, litchis will be dipped in three solutions, one by one, for 2-3 minutes. On drying up, those will be sent to the cold storage from where they will be transported to the markets for sale."

The agriculture secretary said the state government will set up 120 units across the state where litchis would be treated. "Fifteen tonnes of litchis have already been treated under this technology at the National Research Centre for Litchi, Muzaffarpur," he added. "Of these, a substantial amount has already been exported to a few European countries."

The government has initiated the process of training farmers on the new technology. "Cold storages, where the processed litchis will be kept before being sent to the markets, have also been identified," said the agriculture secretary. "The farmers can get their products treated and kept in cold storages at subsidised rates."

Horticulture director Arvinder Singh said the farmers were initially reluctant to adopt the new technology, and he appealed to the media to create awareness.

Sudhir, however, admitted that not much benefit can be derived from this technology in 2017, as the litchi season has already arrived, but assured that litchis would be available in the market till August from 2018.

"Bihar produces 2.5 metric tonne of litchis annually, which is 76 per cent of the country's total litchi production. However, not even one per cent of this is being exported owing to shorter shelf life of litchis. However, this technology will help greater quantities of litchis to be exported to foreign countries," said another Barc scientist, Dr S. Gautam.

On the safety point of view, Chattopadhyay said it had been approved under the US food safety system.