Litchi production is likely to increase by up to 10 per cent this year if the weather remains favourable in the growing regions.

“This year the production may go up by about 6-10 per cent from the normal crop size as the weather was favourable during the fruiting season. If the weather remains favourable the entire season, the crop is expected to be good,” Litchi Growers Association of India President Niraj Chhinwal told PTI.

Last year, the total production was about 3.4 lakh tonnes, according to the National Horticulture Board data.

However, National Research Centre for Litchi (NRCL) Senior Scientist (Horticulture) S.K. Purbey opined that the total output is likely to remain similar to last year.

“Initially, due to good weather conditions we were expecting about 15-20 per cent growth in production of litchi from last year. However, during the fruiting, the crop in some growing regions was affected due to hot westerly wind. According to reports that we are receiving, crops in West Bengal are most affected. So now we expect the litchi crop to be similar to last year,” he added.

The crop in Bihar and Uttarakhand is expected to remain the same as last year and in Punjab the crop is very good this year and the area under the fruit in the northern State has also grown significantly this year, he said.

The most popular variety ‘Sahi’ grown in Muzaffarpur in Bihar will hit the market this month and will continue till May 31, Chhinwal added. The supplies from Bihar will be followed by those from Uttarakhand and then Himachal produce will hit the market, he said.

In India, Litchi is mainly grown on 76,000 hectares in Bihar, West Bengal, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. The fruit is also grown in some parts of Punjab, Tripura, Assam, Odisha and Jharkhand.

On an average, 4.2 lakh tonnes of litchi is produced in the country.

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