Thursday, 08 June 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Frequent rain in Dehradun might have relieved the people from the scorching summer heat, but the rain and hail lashing Uttarakhand repeatedly have damaged the litchi fruit. Things have come to such a pass that the sub-tropical fruit has almost disappeared from the mandis in Doon. The acute shortage of litchi has naturally led to a steep hike in its price in the markets.
Asked to comment on the less abundance of litchis in the Doon market this year, the State director of Horticulture department Harminder Singh Baweja said that litchi production has been damaged in Dehradun due to the western disturbances. “The yield has definitely dipped and our horticulture team members are now working to assess the damage to litchi production in the State.”
Talking to The Pioneer, a litchi farmer Ravi said, “I have been cultivating litchi at my orchard for years. The flowering was very good until April but the repeated rain and hailstorm damaged half of the litchis.”
The fruit sellers in the city mandis are concerned too, as the soaring prices are keeping the buyers away. A fruit seller Vinod said, “The shortage of litchi in the State has directly impacted its price. Last year we used to sell litchi at Rs 90-95 per kg, but this year it is being sold for Rs 150-160 per kg.”
A customer, Nitika, sounded disappointed over the near disappearance of the fruit from the city markets. “When available, their prices are beyond our reach,” she said, adding that the Doon valley was once famous for delicious litchi fruit.
