Horticulture Boost: Litchi Cultivation Has Expanded to 19 Indian states

Context: Muzaffarpur-based National Research Centre on Litchi (NRCL) is providing technical help, plants and training to farmers in order to expand the fruit’s cultivation across India.

Commercial Litchi Cultivation Thrives in 19 States

• States with Commercial production of Litchi: Litchi cultivation for commercial purposes is currently being in 19 states. 
• Saplings for Litchi: The NRCL is preparing thousands of litchi saplings at its nursery each year in order to supply them to farmers in different states. 
  • The government provides saplings of its famous Shahi litchi, besides popular varieties like China, Gandki Lalima, Gandki Sampada and Gandki Yogita, to farmers.

About Litchi

• Origin: The origin of litchi is from southern China, particularly the provinces of Kwangtung and Fukien. 
• Climate: Litchi generally prefers moist subtropical climate with frost free winter and dry heat wave free summer.
• Altitude: Although it can grow up to an altitude of 800 m above the sea level, the best growth and yield is found at lower elevations. 
• Temperature: Seasonal temperature variation is necessary for proper fruiting. The temperature should not exceed 40.0° C in summer and below the freezing point in winter. 
• Soil: Ideal soil for organic litchi cultivation is well-drained deep loamy soil rich in organic matter and having slightly acidic to neutral soil.
• Major Litchi Growing States: It mainly grows in the foothills of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand. 
  • Litchi cultivation is spread across over 32,000 hectares in Bihar accounting for nearly 40 per cent of India’s litchi production. 
  • Bihar is followed by West Bengal (12 per cent of the total) and Jharkhand (10 per cent).
• Area under Cultivation: More than 0.1 million hectares of land are under litchi cultivation in India.
• Global Production Status: India is the second largest producer of litchi in the World after China. 
• Other major producing countries include Thailand, Australia, South Africa, Madagascar and Florida in the US.

Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH)

• About: MIDH is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the holistic growth of the horticulture sector covering fruits, vegetables, root & tuber crops, mushrooms, spices, flowers, aromatic plants, coconut, cashew, cocoa and bamboo

National Horticulture Mission (NHM)

• About: It is the sub-scheme of MIDH which is being implemented by the National Horticulture Board (NHB). 
• Objective: To promote the growth of the horticulture sector covering vegetables, fruits, root & tuber crops, spices, mushroom, flowers, aromatic plants, cashew and cocoa. 
• Under this, the Government of India (GOI) will assist with 85% of the developmental programmes and the State Government will contribute the remaining 15%. 

About National Horticulture Board (NHB):

• About: It was set up by the Government of India in 1984 as an Autonomous organization under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
  • It is registered as a society under the Societies Registration Act, headquartered at Gurugram. 
• Objectives of NHB:  
  • To develop production clusters/hubs for integrated Hi-tech commercial horticulture
  • Development of Post-harvest and cold chain infrastructure
  • Ensuring availability of quality planting material
  • To promote adoption of new technologies/tools/ techniques for Hi-tech commercial horticulture etc.

News Source: DTE

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