A girl takes a look at a bunch of Shahi lichis at Palandu. Picture by Prashant Mitra

Ranchi, May 15: The Horticulture and Agro Forestry Institute in Palandu organised a Lichi Utsav on its premises for farmers today.

Hundreds of farmers attended the programme, which they said was an “eye opener”. They took a round of farm, which was dotted with lichi trees.

A.K. Sinha, director of Indian Council for Agricultural Research (Eastern Region), who was the chief guest, said: “Lichi farming is not very popular in Jharkhand. We are far behind Bihar in terms of lichi production. In Jharkhand, only 1,000 hectares of land is used for lichi farming, whereas in Bihar, it is 26,000 hectares. We have to increase our cultivation area by 26 times. It is a difficult task, but we are working hard. The farmers have to be taught that lichi cultivation involves little investment.”

G.S. Dubey, acting directing (Research) of BAU, said: “We have to provide the farmers with good quality plants and seeds. The soil and the climatic condition of the state are ideal for lichi. We had launched a lichi cultivation programme in 1980. After 20 years of research, we have concluded that Shahi, China, and Swarnrupa are the best varieties of litchi.”

Mathura Rai, director of Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, said: “Jharkhand’s climate is ideal for lichi production. Unlike other places where the fruit takes 15 to 20 days to fully ripe, in Jharkhand it takes only a few days. We have to train our farmers. Most of the peasants in the state are dependent on paddy cultivation. But food crops are not that profitable.”

S. Kumar, station head, said: “Farmers in the state are not aware of fruit cultivation. Any fruit plant, for example lichi costs Rs 15. The plant bears fruits by the seventh year. Within 15 years it becomes a full-grown tree, which can fetch anything between Rs 3,000 to 5,000. We are not asking the farmers to stop paddy cultivation. But they should think about alternatives.” Vishal Nath, a research scientist, said: “There are about 50 varieties of litchi. Jharkhand can grow the Shahi, Agati, Trikolia, Desi, D Rose and Rose varieties. D Rose and Rose can be grown in the beginning of the season. Swarnrupa comes under the mid-term variety and China under the late term variety.”