The luscious litchi from the district would burn a hole in buyers’ pockets this season because of inclement weather. Production has taken a hit, which, in turn, has threatened to make the prices of the fruit soar.

Squalls, coupled with hailstorms, have reduced the chances of bumper production of the tropical fruit. Litchi growers in north Bihar, who were expecting high yield in view of sufficient flowering, are now a worried lot as their crops have been damaged.

Bholanath Jha, a farmer from Minapur, said: “Sixty per cent of our crops have been damaged because of hailstorms.”

Orchards spread over Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Samastipur, East and West Champaran, Begusarai, Bhagalpur, Khagaria and Katihar have turned desolate. According to statistics available with the state agriculture department, litchi is cultivated in approximately 25,000 hectares in north Bihar. Every year, the region produces about 90,700 metric tonnes of litchi.

Rajesh Kumar, a senior scientist at National Litchi Research Centre, Muzaffarpur, told The Telegraph: “This time, the production would be lower than last years’ production. Experts are assessing the damage to crops in the wake of the recent rain and hailstorm. Farmers have been told to take care and nurse the stem of the plants. Insecticides and pesticides should be sprinkled regularly. Litchi plants need to be watered at least three to four times a day. Cultivators have been asked to main- tain cleanliness and keep insects at bay.”

In the meantime, the research centre, at the behest of National Horticulture Mission (NHM), New Delhi, has adopted cultivation of new varieties of litchi brought from Thailand and Vietnam in Kanti and Minapur blocks of the district. The foreign clones of the indigenous litchi are being grown on 1,000 hectares. The centre is working hard to popularise the foreign varieties to ensure high profits for the farmers and growers.