Yesterday afternoon. After the sun had subsided a little in the afternoon, the surrounding environment was getting quite cold. I was thinking of taking a walk outside. Just then, a farmer brother I know in our area called me. His name is Jabbar Bhai. He knows that I have studied agriculture and I am quite interested in gardening or farming. After picking up the phone, he said, Brother, are you free today? If you have time, come and visit my litchi garden. This year, there are a lot of litchis on the trees, but I am very worried about some things. I need your advice.
When you get a call like that from a farmer, you can't really sit at home. Besides, litchi is my favorite fruit. So without further ado, I went straight to his garden.
As soon as I reached the garden, my eyes were opened. A huge garden, rows of litchi trees. The branches of each tree were bent down completely under the weight of litchis. Some branches have so many litchis that they have to be propped up with bamboo. You can understand this by looking at the pictures I uploaded. Some litchis are still green, while others have started to take on a light reddish or pink color. Seeing litchis in the gaps between the leaves will make anyone feel better. Jabbar Bhai is a very hardworking person, which is clear to see when you look at the care of his garden. The roots of the trees are quite clean, there are almost no weeds. But even after such a good harvest, I could clearly see some concern in his eyes. I took a good look around the entire garden with him.
Then we both sat in the shade on one side of the garden. He opened up about his main problem. His first and main problem is insect infestation. As soon as the litchis start to grow a little, a type of insect (which we call the fruit borer) makes a hole near the bud of the litchi and enters inside. These insects mainly lay eggs on the fruit and the larvae enter the fruit and destroy the seeds and shells. The insect-eaten litchis burst or rot and fall off. And when sold in the market, buyers do not want to buy litchis with these insects at all, as a result of which the price drops a lot and the farmer suffers losses.
I listened to him very carefully and gave him some practical advice. I told him, Brother, since litchis are now very close to ripening, it would not be right to use any very strong or toxic chemical pesticides. Because this poison can remain inside the fruit, which can go directly to the human body and cause serious harm. Instead, I told him about some natural and safe methods. First, pheromone traps can be used in the garden, which will attract and kill harmful male insects, thereby reducing their reproduction. Second, Neem Oil or organic pesticides can be mixed with water and sprayed. It works very well in repelling insects and has no side effects. And if the condition of the garden is very bad and you have to give any medicine, then you should give such medicine which has a very short waiting period. And remember, no litchi can be planted or eaten from that tree for at least 7 to 10 days after spraying.
After solving the insect problem, I was a little worried when he asked me about it. Because many unscrupulous businessmen in our country do this in the hope of making more profit. Jabbar Bhai asked, Brother, I see many litchis in the market that are very bright red. Can any spray or chemical be applied to the litchi to bring this bright red color very quickly? Because people buy red litchis at a higher price when they see them in the market.
Hearing this, I strictly forbade him. I explained to him that forcibly ripening or coloring the fruit with ethephon or any other harmful hormone/chemical not only destroys the nutritional value of the fruit, but also destroys the original sweet taste of the litchi. The most important thing is that eating fruits containing these chemicals can cause liver and kidney problems, as well as serious diseases like cancer. As an honest farmer, he should not cheat people's health in such a way in the hope of making a little more profit temporarily.
He was a little disappointed and asked, Isn't it possible to get good color naturally without chemicals?
I smiled and said, Of course it is possible, but you have to be patient and smart for this.I taught him a few techniques for getting color naturally. First, you need to give adequate irrigation to the base of the tree. If there is juice in the soil, the size of the fruit increases and the fruit does not burst in the heat of the sun. Second, when the sun is strong in the afternoon, you need to spray clean water on the entire tree and the fruit and wash the leaves and fruit with a spray machine. This will remove the dust from the body of the litchi. When the sweet morning sun falls on this dust-free, clean litchi, photosynthesis will take place very well. Besides, due to the difference in temperature - hot during the day and mildly cold at night - the skin of the fruit will naturally acquire a very beautiful natural reddish or pink color. If potash fertilizer is applied to the base of the tree before the buds appear, then there is no need to worry about the sweet taste and beautiful color of the fruit.
Jabbar Bhai was quite happy and reassured after hearing my words. He understood that it is much more honorable to get a good yield naturally with a little proper care than using harmful chemicals. We sat in the garden and talked for a while. I picked a few semi-ripe litchis from the tree and ate them. Although the taste was a little sour-sweet, the taste of the fresh fruit in front of my eyes was different.
When I was returning home in the evening, a different kind of peace was working in my mind. When I can benefit a farmer at the field level even a little with my studies and acquired knowledge, then I feel that my agricultural education has been truly worthwhile.
Do you have a litchi garden in your area? Those of you who garden, what methods do you use to take care of litchis or protect them from insects and spiders? You can tell us in the comments, so that we can all learn something new.
(All posts are written in Bengali and translated into English using Google Translate.)
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| Camera Used | Samsung SM-G973F |
|---|---|
| F-Stop | F2.4 |
| ISO speed | ISO |
| Focal length | 26mm |
| Flash | No |
| Editing app | MIX |
| Photography | (garden) |
| Photographer |  |
| Location | Nazirpur, Natore, Bangladesh |