LITCHI RESOURCE MAPPING B - :: State Horticulture...

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Litchi Resource Mapping Final Report

23/3/2010

Submitted to State Horticulture Mission, Bihar

Prepared By: IL&FS Clusters Development Initiative Limited

LITCHI RESOURCE MAPPING, BIHAR

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ..........................................................................................................................5

1. Introduction ..........................................................................................................................8

2. Resource Mapping: Objectives ........................................................................................... 12

2.1 Objectives ........................................................................................................................... 12

3. Resource Mapping: Methodology ....................................................................................... 13

3.1 Design of the study .............................................................................................................. 13

3.1.1 Selection of clusters for the study .................................................................................................. 13

3.1.2 Sampling ........................................................................................................................................ 15

3.1.3 Initial Quick Assessment ................................................................................................................ 15

3.1.4 Focused Group Discussion (FGD) ................................................................................................ 16

3.1.5 Questionnaire ................................................................................................................................. 16

3.2 Data Collection ................................................................................................................... 16

3.3 Analysis and Reporting ....................................................................................................... 17

3.4 Limitations of the Study...................................................................................................... 18

4. Pre and Post Harvest Management of Litchi ...................................................................... 20

4.1 Farm Management ............................................................................................................. 20

4.2 Important Pre-harvest management practices .................................................................... 20

4.2.1 Plant spacing ................................................................................................................................. 20

4.2.2 Analysis of soil and leaf ................................................................................................................. 21

4.2.3 Ploughing & Mulching .................................................................................................................. 21

4.2.4 Irrigation ........................................................................................................................................ 22

4.2.5 Application of fertilizers and other nutrients ................................................................................. 24

4.2.6 Seasonality calendar of pre-harvest management practices for litchi cultivation......................... 26

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4.3 Harvest and Post harvest Management ............................................................................... 27

4.3.1 Harvesting/plucking ....................................................................................................................... 27

4.3.2 Grading and Packaging ................................................................................................................. 27

4.3.3 Storage and transportation ............................................................................................................ 28

4.3.4 Other management practices ......................................................................................................... 29

5 Litchi Value Chain .............................................................................................................. 30

5.1 Marketing channel .............................................................................................................. 30

5.1.1 Pre-harvest Contractors ................................................................................................................ 30

5.1.2 Direct Selling in local markets & to Processors ............................................................................ 31

5.2 Litchi Markets .................................................................................................................... 33

5.3 Litchi processing in Bihar ................................................................................................... 34

5.4 Economics of Litchi Production and Trade ......................................................................... 34

5.4.1 Cost of litchi Cultivation ................................................................................................................ 35

5.4.2 Consumer pricing of litchi (in Value Chain) ................................................................................. 36

6 Muzaffarpur ....................................................................................................................... 38

6.1 Overview of the district ....................................................................................................... 38

6.2 Litchi Area in Muzaffarpur ................................................................................................ 39

6.3 Litchi Varieties in Muzaffarpur .......................................................................................... 44

6.4 Production and Productivity in Muzaffarpur ..................................................................... 46

6.5 Litchi Orhcard Profile in Muzaffarpur .............................................................................. 47

7 Samastipur ......................................................................................................................... 48

7.1 Overview of the district ....................................................................................................... 48

7.2 Litchi Area in Samastipur .................................................................................................. 49

7.3 Litchi Varieties in Samastipur ............................................................................................ 52

7.4 Production and Productivity in Samastipur ........................................................................ 53

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7.5 Litchi Orchard Profile in Samastipur ................................................................................. 54

8. Vaishali ............................................................................................................................... 56

8.1 Overview of the District ...................................................................................................... 56

8.2 Litchi Area in Vaishali ........................................................................................................ 57

8.3 Litchi varieties in Vaishali .................................................................................................. 60

8.4 Production and Productivity in Vaishali ............................................................................. 60

8.5 Litchi Orchard Profile in Vaishali ...................................................................................... 61

9 East Champaran ................................................................................................................. 63

9.1 Overview of the District ...................................................................................................... 63

9.2 Litchi Area in East Champaran .......................................................................................... 65

9.3 Litchi varieties in East Champaran .................................................................................... 67

9.4 Production and Productivity in East Champaran ............................................................... 67

9.5 Litchi Orchard Profile in East Champaran ........................................................................ 68

10 West Champaran, Darbhanga and Sitamarhi ..................................................................... 69

10.1 Overview of West Champaran ............................................................................................ 69

10.2 Litchi Resources in West Champaran ................................................................................. 70

10.3 Sitamarhi ............................................................................................................................ 72

10.4 Darbhanga .......................................................................................................................... 74

11 Conclusion and Recommendations ..................................................................................... 76

11.1 Estimate for the districts ..................................................................................................... 76

11.2 Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 77

Appendix I: Database of Farmers

Appendix III: Questionnaires

Appendix III: Case Studies

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Executive Summary

Litchi may be regarded as one of the most prominent agricultural produces of Bihar in terms of

both visibility and the share of state in the national production. It is also a highly perishable

produce with harvesting season of hardly a month. Unlike the food grains, investment in

orchards is demanding as it involves vast resources and long gestation period. It is also felt that

litchi plantation and production have not been showing expected growth in recent years. It was

therefore decided by the Department of Agriculture, Government of Bihar to take up resource

mapping of Litchi. This is aimed at getting detailed information on various aspects of litchi

production and thus come up with effective measures to increase productivity and benefit litchi

growers

Detailed field work has been conducted in seven districts viz. Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Samastipur,

East Champaran, West Champaran, Sitamarhi and Darbhanga to identify the extent and volume

of production. Viability of this sub sector has been gauged by assessing aspects like productivity,

existing inadequacies in the pre& post harvest stages, infrastructure, etc if any. The choice of

blocks (39 in total) and clusters has been made based on an initial quick assessment followed by

focus group discussions at the district level. Samples have been random and yet representative.

Various stakeholders like farmers, traders, pre harvest contractors, Department of Horticulture

(DoH) officials have been consulted and in-depth discussions held at various stages of the

exercise. The study confronted limitations due to lack of information on the basis of varieties,

poor cost estimates as function of weight and high temporal variations in the yield. Also, the fact

that most of the farm owners were not managing the farm has posed challenges in information

seeking.

The findings of the study can be broadly studied as general findings (covering the qualitative

aspects ranging from planting, land preparation, fertilizer application, irrigation to farm

management, marketing channels and price build up along the value chain) and findings specific

to the districts (quantitative data on production, area, etc) . It is found that most of the practices

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pertaining to cultivation and marketing remain the same. The reason attributed to this being same

set of constraints across the districts. The main impediments in agricultural practice are stated

below.

• Lack of awareness among the farming community

• Varying interests of Farm Owners and farm managers Pre Harvest Contractors (PHCs) in

majority of the orchards. Almost, 70% of the orchards are leased out to PHCs at the time

of flowering.

• Far from satisfactory performance of extension machinery in most of the blocks.

The declining productivity is a matter of concern and the prime reason identified during the

study is plant spacing. The deviation from the recommendations in case of plant density is as

high as 50% in some of the districts.

The estimate of total acreage in all the 39 blocks studied stands at 13, 325 Ha while the total

number of plants is 17, 26,275 and total production is 1, 20,186 MT. The average productivity in

all these blocks is estimated as 9 MT/ Ha and per plant productivity is about 69.6 kg. The

estimate for Muzaffarpur is for the entire district as all the blocks were considered for resource

mapping while for other six districts, estimate is only for the blocks considered for study.

District Area

(Ha)

Number of

Plants

Production

(MT)

Productivity

per plant (Kg)

Productivity

(MT/Ha)

Muzaffarpur 7535 9,39,473 68027 72.4 9.0

Samastipur 1387 1,90,695 13583 71.2 9.8

Vaishali 2721 3,74,115 24033 64.2 8.8

East

Champaran

1117 1,53,602 10471 68.2 9.4

West

Champaran

343 41,140 2400 58.3 7.0

Sitamarhi 125 15,000 900 60.0 7.2

Darbhanga 98 12,250 772 63.0 7.9

Total 13,325 17,26,275 1,20,186 69.6 9.0

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The overall estimate for the seven districts comprising all the blocks is 16,095 Ha for area and 1,

44, 882 MT for production and 9 MT/Ha for productivity as compared to the DoH data of 18,426

Ha, 1, 40,362 MT and 7.54 MT/Ha respectively.

It may be concluded from the study that there is immense scope for improving the production

and productivity of Litchi in Bihar. Also, the study points out a vast potential for exploring the

markets within and outside the country. Hence a need to plug the identified gaps in cultivation

aspects and infrastructure along the value chain is felt. Recommendations are made towards

strengthening the information dissemination.

Strengthening the extension machinery in order to educate farming community on best package

of practices is found to be essential. The data base built during this exercise could be utilized to

streamline field visits. Orchard owners could be organized into groups and field visits could be

organized to those blocks which are making headway in terms of technology adaptation and

scientific orchard management. The farmers in a few survey blocks are skeptical about adopting

soil and leaf testing and other recommended practices like spacing of plants, etc. Information

dissemination by the department shall play a crucial role in eliminating the skepticism. In order

to encourage the entrepreneurs and other players for venturing into sector specific interventions

like reefer vans, pack houses, processing facilities, etc timely availability of finance and

incentives is required. Information on the distant markets, export markets available, product

specifications, etc needs to be disseminated through awareness campaigns. Demand projections

and price trends could be shared with the trading community through specific information

dissemination kiosks.

It is recognized that this resource mapping exercise is just an effort to highlight issues which are

of utmost importance to various players. The set of recommendations mentioned in this report

though not exhaustive, will prove to be instrumental in providing the necessary direction for

policy interventions.

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1. Introduction

The cultivation of Litchi is restricted to very few countries in the world, India being one among

them. India and China account for 91 percent of the world litchi production. According to

National Horticulture Board, in India about 428,900 MT of litchi is produced annually from

56,200 hectares. Within India too, the climatic requirements of this crop are exacting in nature

making the production limited to select states. Litchi occupies an important place in the

Horticulture landscape of Bihar owing to its geographic confinement and the magnitude of its

share to the overall production in the country.

Litchi cultivation provides both On-Farm and off farm employment to millions in Bihar and is

critical to the economy which is predominantly agrarian. Considering that Bihar is one of the

most populous states, such sub-sector which can intervene and promote livelihood sustenance

needs to be viewed with utmost importance.

According to the Directorate of Horticulture (DoH) database, Litchi is produced in 27 districts in

Bihar. Muzaffarpur is the largest litchi producing district with a production of 56,006 MT

followed by Vaishali at 26, 498 MT and Sitamarhi at 15,518 MT. West Champaran, East

Champaran and Katihar are other three districts having production of more than 10, 000 MT.

Figure 1.1 provides data on area and production of litchi in all the 27 litchi producing districts in

the state. Based on this information, these districts could be divided in four broad segments. The

first segment comprises of six districts, five of which are in Muzaffarpur region while one i.e.,

Katihar is in North Eastern region. These districts typically have more than 1300 Ha under Litchi

cultivation with Production over 10000 MT. The Second segment has districts with production

between 5000 and 10,000 MT and area between 600-1300 Ha. There are eight districts in this

segment. Third and fourth segments have ten and three districts respectively. The area and

production limits for these segments are given in figure 1.2.

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Figure 1.1: Districts Producing Litchi in Bihar (Year: 2007-08)

Source: Directorate of Horticulture, Bihar

Figure 1.2: Litchi Regions in Bihar

Area (Ha) Production (MT) Districts

More than 1300 More than 10000 Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Sitamarhi, East Champaran, West Champaran, Katihar

600-1300 5000-10000 Samastipur, Purnea, Siwan, Gopalganj, Saran, Sheohar, Darbhanga, Madhubani

100-600 1000-5000 Begusarai, Bhagalpur, Sharasa, Araria, Kishanganj, Khagaria, Munger, Jamui, Madhepur, Supaul

Less than 100 Less than 1000 Sheikhpura, Lakhisarai, Banka

Source: Directorate of Horticulture, Bihar

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National Horticulture Board

database shows a declining trend

over a decade in volume of

production and almost constant trend

in area of cultivation for litchi in

Bihar. (Fig: 1.3 and Fig 1.4). While

the area under litchi cultivation

slightly increased from 23.5

thousand hectare in 1996-97 to 29.8

thousand hectare in 2007-08,

production fell by almost 20% from

282 thousand MT to 223 thousand

MT during this period due to

decrease in productivity from 12

MT per Ha to 7.2 MT per Ha. This

is an alarming trend considering the

significance of this crop.

At the post harvest stage, the various key players involved in the Litchi Value chain are faced

with myriad challenges owing to the nature of the produce, infrastructural inadequacies and

Market related aberrations. Few of the challenges are listed below.

• Short Window Period for Harvesting: Market arrival of Litchi begins in the last week of

April and ends by mid June.

• Price Discovery and Spread: Pre harvest contract of orchard is predominant. Since it is

short duration crop and there are storage constraints for the final produce, buyers

including processors try to cover maximum quantity during the peak season.

Accordingly, price spread is low and remain at the higher level during one month season

• Infrastructural gaps: Litchi requires low temperature atmosphere for transportation to

consumer market for which cold chain facilities are almost non-existent in Bihar.

Protecting the final produce from temperature shocks is critical to fetch better price in

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distant markets. This is often cited as one of the major bottlenecks in marketing of Litchi.

Also, the current processing capacity is insufficient to cater to the value added market

and prolonging the shelf life.

• Untapped Export Potential: The Estimated export market of litchi is about 100,000 MT,

of which Europe, Hong Kong and Singapore account for about 35% of the market. Both

fresh and processed forms of litchi are in high demand and fetch very high price.

However, Bihar has been unable to tap the vast potential of both domestic and export

market due to various constraints.

In the light of the above discussion it can be deduced that information gaps both at macro

(declining production trends, untapped export markets, infrastructural gaps, etc) and micro

(technology adaptation in orchards, price discovery, etc) levels is the foremost challenge which

needs to be addressed. At present, information available about litchi is insufficient to provide a

clear understanding of the status of litchi as a product in terms of volume of production, acreage,

production practices, post-harvest handling, trading volumes and prevalent marketing system.

The government of Bihar recognizes the significance of Litchi Sector in the state and realizes the

existing informational gaps in the sector. At this critical juncture, a need for mapping relevant

resources in the sector and plugging the gaps has been felt. IL&FS CDI shares the vision of

Govt. of Bihar for the sector and conducted a resource mapping of litchi in seven districts in the

state. The ensuing section describes the key objectives and methodology of this exercise in

detail.

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2. Resource Mapping: Objectives

Resource mapping is a system-building process that enables to identify existing resources and

match those resources to a specific purpose. This is aimed at facilitating suggestions for required

interventions for optimal utilization of resources for production, promotion of modern post-

harvest management and marketing facilities for litchi. The idea is to organize information and

provide direction for various organizations/ decision makers.

2.1 Objectives The study mainly focused on collecting and organizing information about production, acreage

under litchi cultivation, varieties being cultivated, productivity of the orchards, harvesting, post

harvest management, existing forward and backward linkages and suggesting a plan for optimum

utilization of the resources.

The main objectives of the study are:

• Mapping of major litchi producing districts/blocks and villages in the identified clusters

• Developing a status report on production in terms of region-wise acreage, volume,

varieties and age of the orchards

• Assessment of the existing practices vis-à-vis the recommended practices in -litchi

cultivation viz., planting, fertilizer and pesticide usage and irrigation

• Assessment of harvesting practices and post harvest handling of the produce

• Understanding the Current marketing channel with respect to number of intermediaries

involved and their roles; major markets for different varieties in terms of volume and

price.

• Ascertain infrastructural requirements and need for strengthening of linkages for

production system

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3. Resource Mapping: Methodology

The methodology for litchi resource mapping consisted of various qualitative and quantitative

techniques. The study methodology can be discussed under three heads: design of the study,

data collection & analysis and reporting.

3.1 Design of the study

Designing the study methodology was the first and one of the most crucial stages of the resource

mapping exercise. This involved identification of the survey area, finalizing the blocks to be

studied, sample size and sampling methodology. Many deliberations were made at this stage

with the state government to arrive at the final blue print for the study. A two stage

assessment/survey with triangulation of information at each stage was agreed upon to be suitable

for the resource mapping exercise. This is primarily because of the complexity involved in

identification of the sample lack of historical data at block level. The two stages of the exercise

can be explained as below:

Stage I: Information from secondary sources formed the basis for identification of districts and

blocks at this stage. Quick assessment on the aptness of the blocks identified was made at this

stage. This was carried out by administering a one page questionnaire randomly and holding

Focus Group Discussions (FGD) at block Level

Stage II: Based on the findings from Stage I further changes in the sample areas (Inclusion/

Deletion of blocks/villages) and survey questionnaire were made.

3.1.1 Selection of clusters for the study

Muzaffarpur traditionally has been the nucleus of litchi production in this region. Almost all the

surrounding districts viz. Vaishali, Samastipur, Sheohar, East and West Champaran, Sitamarhi,

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Darbhanga, produce litchi

in the areas adjacent to

Muzaffarpur. For this

study, six districts in

addition to Muzaffarpur

are selected.

It is emphasized that litchi

production is spread

throughout Muzaffarpur

district whereas in other

six districts, the production is concentrated only in few blocks. Hence, the mapping was

suggested for few selected blocks from six districts. Overall there are 34 blocks selected from 7

districts initially. Later, five more blocks were added after initial quick assessment and focused

group discussions in these districts.

Below mentioned is the list of blocks selected for the resource mapping of litchi:

Figure 3.1: Blocks Covered in Resource Mapping

Districts Blocks Blocks added after Initial Quick Assessment

Muzaffarpur Mushahari, Muraul, Sakara, Bandara, Gaighat, Bochahan, Aurai, Katara, Minapur, Sahebgun, Motipur, Kanti, Paroo, Saraiya, Madwan, Kudhani

Vaishali Bhagwanpur, Goraul, Lalganj, Vaishali, Mahua Belsar

Samastipur Pusa, Samastipur, Vibhutipur, Tajpur, Sarairanjan Rosera, Kalyanpur

East Champaran Mahesi, Chakiya Kalyanpur, Madhuban

Sitamarhi Dumra, Ruisaidpur

West Champaran Barian, Narkatiyaganj

Darbhanga Jale, Bahadurpur

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3.1.2 Sampling

Two stage cluster sampling method was used to select orchards for the detailed survey. The

districts were divided into major blocks and the blocks selected for study were further grouped

into clusters. For geographical spread and sample representation, these clusters were further

divided at panchayat level as sub clusters. The samples were selected so as to obtain about 12-15

random samples from each of the sub clusters. Randomization was done at sub cluster level

without controlling for factors such as orchard size and random samples were collected at

farmer’s level.

Initial Quick assessment and Focus Group discussion formed the basis for adjusting the samples

and modifying the design in line with the research objectives. These are discussed in detail in

subsequent sub sections.

3.1.3 Initial Quick Assessment

As discussed earlier, the main purpose of the quick assessment was to confirm the choice of

blocks and aptness of sample for further stages of the study. A brief survey form was designed

and investigators were trained to administer the same. The initial assessment was conducted in

34 blocks in seven districts.

“Snow Ball” technique was adopted to identify the orchard owners. In this method, initial

contact was made with two traders in the region and leads of orchard owners were collected from

them. Each orchard owner contacted thereafter was requested to name 3-4 other orchard owners,

who were then contacted as per the availability. At this stage about 140 orchard owners were

contacted by the survey team.

The criterion for classification of orchards was revised after the initial quick assessment. The

orchards were classified on the basis of acreage in case of Muzaffarpur (as < 1 acre; 1-3 acre; 3-

10 acre and 10+ acres) and on the basis of no. of trees per orchard in case of the other six

districts (<50 trees, 50-200 trees, 200-500 trees and 500+ trees). Analysis of the data gathered

during this assessment formed the basis for focused group discussion and detailed survey.

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3.1.4 Focused Group Discussion (FGD)

Focused Group Discussion was done with major stakeholders; farmers, traders, horticulture

officials at district level. The main outcomes of FGD are enlisted below:

• In Samastipur the initial list of blocks for study did not include Rosera and Kalyanpur

while both these are large litchi producing blocks of the district. Similarly, Belsar was

included in Vaishali whereas Madhuban and Kalyanpur were included in East

Champaran after FGD.

• The FGD in West Champaran portrayed that litchi cultivation in the district was picking

up at a very fast rate and farmers were planting new orchards for commercial purposes.

Hence two blocks were included for detailed survey. The field survey on the contrary

showed that mango is successfully grown and one or two litchi trees were planted for

domestic consumption purpose.

3.1.5 Questionnaire

The Agriculture experts designed the questionnaire based on the objectives of the study. To the

extent possible, the questionnaire was structured with close ended questions so as to minimize

the errors in data handling and analysis. Feedback of the experts from the Department of

Horticulture was sought before initiating the survey and the feedback was incorporated into the

questionnaire.

3.2 Data Collection

The important parameters covered in data collection are orchard size, production, productivity of

litchi cultivation, popular litchi varieties grown in the study area, farmers experience in litchi

cultivation, trend in area cultivated under litchi crops, production practices and technologies

adopted in litchi cultivation, gap in technology adoption and economic viability. The study

covered in detail the marketing and post harvest management practices. Farm to Farm survey of

Litchi growers is one of the main components of data collection wherein a structured

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questionnaire was administered to 356 farmers in seven districts. In addition, discussion with

traders and few processors was also conducted. Figure 3.2 summarises the number of

respondents and average Litchi orchard size in each district covered during the survey.

Figure 3.2: District wise Respondent summary

District Number of Respondents Mean of Litchi Area (Acre)

Muzaffarpur 100 2.50

Samastipur 82 2.82

Vaishali 70 2.74

East Champaran 58 3.14

West Champaran 17 3.02

Darbhanga 15 1.50

Sitamarhi 14 1.75

356

3.3 Analysis and Reporting

Data collected at different levels from various sources was collated and consolidated for analysis.

MS Excel and statistical tools like SPSS were used extensively to analyse the data. Since the

primary data collected was mostly cross section data, the trend available is mostly from

secondary sources. The steps involved in arriving at estimators for area and production are

described below.

• Data collected at farmer’s level was consolidated for total area, average litchi orchard

size, number of plants (age wise), production/ productivity statistics.

• Secondary data was collected from Panchayati Raj Department for estimation of Total

area and Cultivable land in each block.

• Primary data was used to arrive at an estimate of proportion of Litchi area to the total

cultivable land in each block

• Estimates on production and productivity were arrived at by averaging the no. of plants

and average fruit weight and thereby yield per plant in each of the blocks.

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IL&FS Clusters has submitted a draft final report enumerating the study on litchi resource

mapping and its findings. Feedback was sought from the department of Horticulture,

Government of Bihar. Feedback from the same has been incorporated in this document which is

the final report.

3.4 Limitations of the Study

While the primary objective of this study is to develop a strong database of various resources in

the Litchi Sub sector, the study team confronted some limitations during the mapping exercise.

The limitations are described in this section in order to sensitize those aspects which are to be

borne in mind while interpreting the findings of this study.

• Majority of the orchards are leased out on contract basis well before harvesting. While

few farmers manage the pre harvest operations there are many whose role ends after the

contract. Eliciting information during the interviews with orchard owners/ farmers was a

challenge as not all the respondents were aware of the current orchard management.

• Considering the diversity in the varieties being cultivated, information on the input usage

could have been more specific and customized as per the varieties. This is dimension was

captured only in general.

• Since the unit of sale at farm level is either no. of trees/ no. of fruits information on yield

is near to being accurate. Also, determination of price as a function of weight remained a

challenging task.

• The temporal yield variations are high. For example, the yield in 2009 is considered to be

low by 40% when compared to the previous year which recorded one of the all time high

yields. Averaging method was used to the extent possible to eliminate out liars. In some

instances it was observed that the respondents were confused over the yields.

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Part II: Survey Findings

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4. Pre and Post Harvest Management of Litchi

4.1 Farm Management

Farm management of orchard comprises of the entire process from plantation of sapling, pre-

harvest management to post harvest management and any other practice which is aimed at

improving the productivity of litchi. The productivity of litchi depends on a number of factors

like age of plants, variety, and quality of land and cultivation practices followed by farmers. The

cultivation practices followed by farmers in the pre harvest phase play an important role in

determining the overall productivity of orchard. To understand the practices adopted by the

farmers, mapping of management practices was made an integral part of the survey.

4.2 Important Pre-harvest management practices

Pre harvest phase practices affect the overall output of litchi. A fully grown, healthy litchi plant

can yield about 100 -120Kgs of litchi. However, this figure of plant productivity was very rare in

the field survey. Some of the main management practices which have been analyzed in detail

under this section include, plant spacing, soil & leaf analysis, ploughing and tillage operations,

irrigation and nutrition management.

4.2.1 Plant spacing

Proper plant spacing is one of the important factors for optimising returns from litchi orchards.

The standard recommendation is to have at least a spacing of 10*10 metre (100 plants per Ha)

irrespective of the variety selected. However, it was found that most of the farmers don’t adhere

to this practice and intend to have higher plant density. It was found across districts that they

plant about 25%- 50% more number of plants in the available space. This results in fewer

nutrients for plant, sub optimal growth which hampers productivity.

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As per the survey overall average plant density for the selected districts is 128 plants per hectare

– the range is from 104 to 153. This is significantly higher than the recommended plant density

of 100.

4.2.2 Analysis of soil and leaf

Soil characteristic is one of the most important factors in determining Litchi productivity. For

farmers, it is crucial to understand the soil type, its properties and requirement of crop to

augment it further with additional nutrients, especially micronutrients. However, as observed

during the field survey, farmers tend to overlook the need for soil analysis and apply manure and

other nutrients in unscientific way. Mostly, it was observed that they follow the old practices or

get influenced by the various options available in the market without realising the suitability of

those particular nutrients for their orchard. As a result plants don’t get desired type and level of

nutrients restricting proper growth of the plant.

Most of the deficiency in the soil can be easily identified by the analysis of litchi leaf. However,

in the survey, it was observed that farmers’ awareness is quite low in this regard. Less than 0.5 %

of the farmers interviewed had some knowledge about scientific analysis of leaf and its

importance on the quality of orchards, rest were unaware. Few farmers have undergone training

by APEDA and NLRC but adaptation of the suggested practice was almost negligible.

The entire process of soil and leaf testing is considered to be tedious and time consuming. This

factor combined with a belief that they are aware of the package of practices dissuades the

farmers from taking up soil and leaf analysis.

4.2.3 Ploughing & Mulching

Proper ploughing is a must for ensuring proper growth of the plants and maintaining its health.

This practice is followed by most of the farmers. Mulching of soil helps in maintaining good

sanitary conditions at orchard level, which is a must for keeping the orchard healthy, and in

disease free condition. Besides this it also helps plants in taking nutrients from soil effectively

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and efficiently. The pictures above show mulching of litchi trees in Bhagwanpur block of

Vaishali district. Majority of farmers covered during the survey undertake ploughing at least

once a year between August and December, while some do it as late as January.

4.2.4 Irrigation

Litchi being an evergreen plant requires optimum soil moisture for growth and development of

the plants and fruit production. Young plants up to 3-4 years of age need irrigation to favour

rapid vegetative growth and the schedule is to have irrigation at an interval of 15 days during

Oct-Nov, at one month interval during Dec- Feb, and at one week interval during March-July.

The schedule changes when trees come into bearing stage and the trees don’t require water till

flowering stage and fruits setting, i.e. from Nov to March. Thereafter, trees need regular watering

up to harvesting stage, i.e. May-June.

In most of the areas covered under the resource mapping, farmers followed regular irrigation

practice for young plants but don’t irrigate the mature plants as required. However, farmers from

high productivity blocks are more careful about irrigation and they try to follow the practices

whenever possible. In the study, it was found that about 95 per cent farmers irrigated the litchi

orchards at least once while only 30% irrigated twice and 23 % irrigated the litchi crop thrice.

There have been scientific studies that demonstrated the benefits of drip irrigation in growth of

Mulching in a Litchi Orchard Mulching in a Licthi Orchard

23


0

20

40

60

Rains Own Pumpsets

Pumpset on Rent

State Bore Wells

Canals Other Sources

Figure 4.1

Irrigation Sources

litchi plants1. However, in our study no farmer has reported using drip irrigation and there is a

wide variation in the irrigation practices, indicating that farmers are neither knowledgeable nor

concerned about the role of irrigation in litchi cultivation.

According to a study conducted by

EDA Rural Systems, about 68% of

farmers use pump - sets for irrigation

purpose. About 17% of the farmers use

their own pump sets while the other

51% take pump sets on rent from other

farmers. The capital cost of pump set is

also restrictive for use by farmers and

they get it on rent (Rs. 55- Rs. 65 per

hour of usage, fuel cost extra)

In order to irrigate 1 acre of land through a pump set about 4 to 5 hours is required.

Though cost of irrigation emerges as very important factor for non adherence to good irrigation

practice, other factors as explained by them are as follows:

• Poor irrigation infrastructure at the farm level: Poor working conditions of state bore

wells and canal support systems (water is rarely released on time in Gandak canal

systems developed by the government)

• Lack of awareness among farmers about importance of regular irrigation practices and

its impact on the production level

• Unavailability of labour in the peak season

• Management of orchards are generally by pre-harvest contractors who lack the

ownership to maintain the quality of orchards

1 Response of Young Shahi Litchi Trees to Drip Irrigation: Ray P.K.*, Rani Ruby, Singh A.K., Department of

Horticulture, Rajendra Agricultural University, Pusa 848 125, Samastipur, Indian Journal of Horticulture, Year :

2006, Volume : 63, Issue : 2

Source: EDA Rural Systems


24


• Location of the orchards: In most of the cases orchards are generally located away from

the main agricultural land and so it becomes difficult to cover these orchards even by

private irrigation sources.

4.2.5 Application of fertilizers and other nutrients

Litchi responds to exogenously applied manure and fertilizers and the response varies depending

upon agronomic conditions and soil type. Fertilizers and other micronutrients are applied in most

of the blocks of the study but farmers lacked clarity on the composition (proportion of Nitrogen,

Phosphorous and Potassium-NPK) and quantity of fertilizers to be applied. It was observed that

the farmers spend significant amount on purchase of various nutrients/micronutrients available

in the market but do not have the technical awareness of suitability of the products for their

requirement.

Application of fertilizers to the orchards is recommended after a month of harvesting season

(July-August) but most of the respondents were not adhering to any specific schedule and it was

observed that farmers were applying fertilizers even in December and January. Another

widespread practice observed in all the districts was application of Urea after the irrigation,

Though uniformity was observed in types of fertilizers applied, variations were observed in

terms of quantity of fertilizers applied in all the districts. The quantity of fertilizers

recommended by the scientists has been explained in the Table 10.1 below

Figure 4.2: Recommended Dosages of Fertilizers per plant

Source: Scientists from NLRC, Dr Saket Bihari Sharma (Ex. Professor, Department of Horticulture, RAU)

Fertilizers (Amount in Kg)

Plant age 1 year Up to 10 years Up to 15 years >20 years

FYM 5 50 75 100 Oil cake 0.2 2 3 4 Urea 0.1 1 1.5 2 SSP 0.15 1.5 2.25 3 Mo P 0.50 0.5 0.75 1 Thimet 0.05 0.08

25


An average of 10 to 20 Kg of FYM per mature tree was applied by most of the farmers. Oil cake

of Neem and Castor are also applied but is generally done in alternate years or in a gap of 2 to 3

years. Urea is the most common chemical fertilizer used by the farmers. About 200 to 500

grams of urea per mature tree is usually applied by the farmers after the first irrigation. Many

farmers repeat the dosage of urea after the irrigation. Around 1 to 1.5 Kg of DAP per plant mixed

with 0.5 Kg of MoP is applied in Sep-Oct. Though scientists recommend of spraying micro

nutrients like Zinc and Boron this practice was not prevalent among respondents.

There is also practice of spraying the plants with insecticides like Endosulfan at the time of

flowering and when the fruits matured but not ripened.

26

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27


4.3 Harvest and Post harvest Management

Harvesting and post harvest phase are predominantly managed by pre-harvest contractors. Once

the deal between farmers and pre-harvest contractors is finalized the litchi orchards are given

away to these contractors who are then fully responsible for management of the orchards. These

pre-harvest contractors agree on pre-determined terms and a price per tree is arrived at and

settled at the time of plucking, grading, packaging, storage and the transportation. The farmers

have a very little or no say in this process.

4.3.1 Harvesting/plucking

Litchi is a non-climacteric fruit and so the quality, color and flavor are all determined at the time

of harvest. The decision on harvest time is made primarily by the pre-harvest contractors based

on their convenience. Maturity of the fruits is indicated by the redness of the fruit and its size

which should be at least 22-25mm in diameter. The maturity of the fruit is also indicated when

tubercles become somewhat flattened and the shells become smooth. Litchi fruits are harvested

in bunches along with a portion of the branch and a few leaves as it prolongs the storage life of

fruits. Fruit harvesting starts early in the morning and gets over by 10 a.m. However, in those

cases where the orchard is managed by the pre-harvest contractors, the decision on harvest time

is made by them at their convenience.

Plucking is done carefully without damaging the branches of the tree. The labour employed for

harvesting are often unskilled and are not trained properly for harvesting. It often results in

damaging the tree. Tools such as blades, knife, pruning scissors & shears are used but this has

not been in common practice.

4.3.2 Grading and Packaging

At the farm level, fruit is graded mainly on the basis of colour and size and for any damage

/injury to the fruit. Damaged, sun burnt and cracked fruits are sorted out and the other fruits are

packaged in bunches along with the twig and leaf.

28


Proper packing of fruits is important in maintaining freshness and quality and in preventing fruit

decay during transit to distant places. Before packaging, attention is given to the drying of fruits

and fruits are packed only if they have has dried completely.

Bamboo baskets and wooden crates are generally used for packaging. The type and size of

packaging depend upon the market to which the fruit is being supplied. The fruit is mostly

packed in wooden boxes of 4-6 kg with dried leaves for cushioning for sending it to the markets

outside the state. In some cases, when the fruits are being supplied to premium markets, the pack

size is even smaller at 2 kg of paper cartons. However, for local markets of shorter distances,

bamboo baskets, and plastic crates are used for packaging and transportation.

4.3.3 Storage and transportation

As litchi is highly perishable in nature, storage is not done at farm level. Since it requires low

temperature and humidity conditions to have longer shelf life, proper cool chain has to be

Grading, Packaging of Litchi at Farm

29


maintained for storage. Very few such cool chain storage and transportation infrastructure are

available in the state. Therefore, storage of litchi fruits by farmers was not observed during the

survey and Litchi is dispatched to the destination market/ or to processors as soon as graded and

packaged to avoid loss in shelf life. However, there are few traders who also have their own cold

storage units and processors with pack houses and processing units.

The mode of transportation varies by the distance to the destination. For local markets, wheel

carts or pick up are used while trucks and trains are used for large quantity and far off markets.

Refrigerated vans also used by traders for products heading to distant markets in Mumbai,

Chennai etc which enjoys premium price.

4.3.4 Other management practices

Intercropping: Litchi is a slow-growing tree and takes at least six years for initial flowering and

fruiting. Intercropping ensures an adequate return from the orchard in pre-bearing phase and also

provides a supplementary source of income to the farmers even at the later stage. All the

districts, especially Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Samastipur and East Champaran, were found to have

instances of intercropping. This practice was mainly in the small and medium level farmers

whereas it was not observed in the large orchards despite them having less plant density.

Apiculture: Apiculture or bee keeping is a good practice for getting a regular return from the

litchi orchards. It has developed in last few years in Muzaffarpur and surrounding districts

where mainly e four types of honey is produced– litchi, karanj, mustard and sarguja are

produced.

30


5 Litchi Value Chain

5.1 Marketing channel

Marketing of Litchi to local as well as distant markets is predominantly observed in two

channels. Pre harvest Contractors are the key players in one such channel and direct selling being

the other marketing channel.

5.1.1 Pre-harvest Contractors

Pre-harvest contractors (PHC) are the most important players in the existing marketing channel

of litchi. In all the seven districts covered during the survey, PHCs are an integral part of the

system and more than 75% of the litchi is marketed through them. Historically, the PHC came

into existence to aid large farmers in managing and marketing of litchi orchards. Their role was

later strengthened by the absence of proper marketing infrastructure. Most of the APMC markets

were located at far off places from orchards and there were no local mandis to facilitate the

marketing.

The PHCs can be categorized as small, medium and large based on the volume handled and

location. Smaller PHC’s are mostly located at interior villages, take smaller orchard on contract

and for a longer period while the medium ones are relatively closer to mandis, and take medium

orchards on contract. Most of the large PHCs play multiple roles as farmers, PHC’s and as

traders. Many of the medium and large PHCs work with traders located in distant cities like,

Delhi, Mumbai, Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Chennai, Lucknow.

PHCs start surveying the litchi orchards from December every year and start purchasing the

orchards on lease which is usually informal (no legal documents are signed by the associated

parties) at the time of flowering season (February-March). At the time of purchase, the

contractors make an on-the-spot assessment of the expected produce from the orchard on the

basis of the size of orchard, location and quality of flowering. The lease amount is then mutually

31


agreed upon by the contractor and the farm owner and an advance is given to the owner as an

agreement.

Generally the lease is for one year but in some cases, the lease duration could be up to five years.

However, a farmer in Samastipur was found to have given orchard on 29 years lease. This works

on risk and return trade-off. For famers, longer period of contract means low risk, low return

while small contract results in high risk and high return.

Majority of the farmers do not want to go into hassles of marketing due to perishable nature of

the produce and risk associated with it. Additionally, the awareness level of farmers is very low

on other marketing methods that could be adopted for marketing or any sort of value addition

that could be undertaken at the farm level.

5.1.2 Direct Selling in local markets & to Processors

Other methods used by the litchi growers include direct selling to outside buyers, selling in local

markets, supply to local processing units and retail. After APMC act was repealed in the state,

many private mandis have come up in different districts, especially in Vaishali and Muzaffarpur,

and are emerging as preferred choice of farmers for marketing of litchi. This has mostly affected

one year contracts where farmers who take high risk are finding alternative channels to sell their

produce. Though the PHC’s are here to stay for their different roles and benefits, their extent of

control on litchi marketing may reduce in the new system. A marketing channel of litchi is

shown below in Fig 5.1.

32


Figure 5.1: Marketing Channel for Litchi

Litchi

Processors

Consumer

Retailers

Outside

Traders

Commission

AgentsLocal Markets

(Mandis)

PHC*

Exporters/

Distributors

*PHC: Pre-Harvest Contractors

Litchi Farmers

The most preferred mode of selling for the litchi growers is through the pre-harvest contractors

in all the districts. In Muzaffarpur, the sale to PHC is about 75% while the second mode which is

direct selling to outstation traders is about 12%).About 8% of the farmers sell in the local market

and bout 3% of the farmers sell their produce directly to a few local processing units in the state.

Similarly, in Samastipur and Vaishali also, channel constituting PHC takes a lion’s share of

(about 75%) litchi marketing. In Samastipur, the second preferred mode is direct selling to

outside traders (10%). Few of the farmers have well established linkages and for last few years

they are packaging litchi in retail packs of 2 kgs and sending to markets like Mumbai and

Bangalore. Rest of the litchi is sold to local markets and processors. However, in Vaishali second

preferred mode is direct sale in local markets. In last few years after repealing APMC act, private

markets in Katarmala, Lalganj, Vaishali, Belsar etc are attracting traders from outside the state

during litchi season. Farmers have also found an alternative channel and they get better price by

selling in these markets.

33


For, East Champaran, selling via PHC is about 80%. Few blocks, Mahesi and Chakiya situated

on Muzaffarpur- Raxual Highway (NH- 28 A) have better access to market outside the state as

well as markets in Muzaffarpur while farmers in interior blocks mostly rely on PHCs. However,

blocks bordering Nepal have access to a lager market through Raxaul exit and this has induced

litchi cultivation in these blocks in big way. Though a detailed survey was not conducted in these

blocks it was found that the orchard size is quite large in these areas.

5.2 Litchi Markets

Litchi being a temperature sensitive fruit, the access to market is constrained by unavailability of

cool chain facilities to transport it to distant markets. It is important to reach the produce to

distant locations at ambient temperature within 24-36 hours after plucking, in order to retain its

desired colour. The supply chain from farm to final consumers outside the state market is not so

efficient to maintain the timings. Hence refrigerated trucks and cool chain facilities are essential

for targeting larger markets. For export markets, litchi requires some processing to increase its

shelf life. Additionally, litchi is also processed for pulp, juices, canned litchi etc for preservation.

Currently, there are about 5 pack houses/ litchi processors in the state.

Litchi markets can be broadly classified into three categories

• Domestic Market in Bihar

• National Market

• Export market

According to the survey estimates, about 80% of litchi produced in the state is marketed out of

the state. Major markets are Delhi, Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Kolkata

and Bangalore. Around 30 MT of fresh produce is also exported from the state to Nepal, UAE

etc., which accounts for only 18% of the total volume of litchi exported out of the country.

34


5.3 Litchi processing in Bihar

The region has five pack houses which are operated by private litchi processors. Around 1600-

1700 MT of produce, is handled by them annually. The pack houses handle fresh as well as

processed litchi where about 500-600 MT of fresh litchi is traded and around 1000-1200 MT is

processed into pulp, juices etc. The pack houses have facility for pre-cooling and cold storage

(around 100 MT each). Mostly, the pre-coolers are of 4-10 MT capacity and their maintenance is

far from being satisfactory.

As litchis are highly perishable, the cold stores

are used by pack house operators to store litchi

for 10-15 days only and thus for transit purpose

alone. Around 50 -60% of fresh litchi is

transported through reefer trucks as its

availability is of a huge concern. Some of the

pack house operators also hire reefer trucks

from Delhi. Rest of the produce is transported

through normal trucks. The installed capacity of

pulping units is around 7 MT/hr and the pulped

products are stored in deep freezers at -18 to -22 degree Celsius. Other products manufactured by

them include litchi shreds/whole in sugar syrup. The same facility is also used by the processors

for processing tomatoes, strawberry, pineapple etc during the rest of the year.

5.4 Economics of Litchi Production and Trade

Most of the farmers, who sell their orchards, are paid a price per tree. The price offered to

farmers is mostly in the range of Rs300 to Rs1000 per plant which varies on factors like plant

age, canopy of the trees, variety and most importantly the negotiation ability of the farmers.

Though the average productivity is 70 kg/plant, the production of litchi in one tree may go up to

80 kg to about 100 kg in their prime bearing age and price realized for such type of trees are

from Rs600-1000 per tree. Trees, which are in the age of 5 to 10 years, fetch a price of around

35


Rs300-500 to the growers. Figure 5.4 shows the analysis of returns from one tree to the growers

interviewed during the survey.

5.4.1 Cost of litchi Cultivation

The average number of plants in litchi orchard varies from 100-130 trees per hectare, are planted

in a hectare. Cost of orchard establishment by farmers is about Rs 15,000 in which fruit bearing

starts from 5-6 years of age. The cost of establishment of orchard in a hectare is represented in

table.

Figure 5.2- Cost of Cultivation per Hectare.

Besides the initial establishment cost, farmers

incur a cost of Rs 7000-12,000/ha annually on

maintenance of orchard. The average yield per

tree is around 70 kg. Yield of litchi depends

upon the age of orchard, variety, locality, agro

climatic conditions as well as management of

orchard. Thus, there is wide variation in yield

which varies from 40-100 kg per tree. The cost

of maintenance (Rs 7000-12,000 per ha) of

orchard, which mainly comprises of irrigation,

pruning and spraying costs, is borne by the farmer. Considering mature plants, farmers get a

Activity Cost per Ha (in Rs)

Cost of sapling (120 sapling) 1800

Labour cost (levelling, digging, weeding, sapling plantation, manure spread, filling etc)

1800

Cost of irrigation (8 times for 6 hours each day) 4320

Compost and fertilizers 4800

Pesticide application 600

Others (Thimet, Folderol application) 1560

Total in Rs 14880

Economics of Litchi Cultivation

No. of Litchi trees in 1 Ha 120

Average Yield per tree(kg) 70

Total Yield per (Ha) 8400

Price received by farmers (Rs/kg) 10

Total income from litchi sale (Rs) 84000

Annual Cost of Maintenance (per Ha) 10000

Net Income per Ha (Rs) 74000

Net Income per kg (Rs) 9

36


price of Rs 600-1000 per tree. Thus farmer’s net income is around Rs74, 000/ha only, without

taking into account his initial spending on establishment of orchard. On per kg basis, farmer’s

net realization is around Rs 9 to 14/kg.

5.4.2 Consumer pricing of litchi (in Value Chain)

A value chain indicating the

various activities and cost build-up

at every step has been mapped for

1 kg of litchi. Some of the

assumptions of the price build up

are:

• The most commonly

observed trade channel has

been selected for the price

build up of litchi, i.e.

Farmer-PHC-Wholesaler-

Retailer.

• Farmer’s margin has been calculated based on his annual cost of maintenance of orchard.

The cost of establishment of orchard has not been taken into account.

• The cost of interstate transportation has been calculated for New Delhi.

Figure 5.2: Litchi Value Chain

Particulars Farmer Pre-harvest Contractor

Wholesaler Retailer

Cost of maintenance/ Purchase price (Rs/Kg)

1 12 30 35

Cost of marketing, transport, wastage (Rs/Kg)

0 15 3 5

Selling price(Rs/Kg) 12 30 35 50

Price spread 11 3 2 10

37


The cost of retailing, which includes the cost of shop, wages, rent etc, has not been considered.

As described earlier, a litchi farmer receives a price of Rs 10-15/kg and he spends around Rs

1/kg in maintenance of the orchard. If the farmer’s price is Rs 12/kg (as depicted above), his net

margin is around Rs 11/kg. The pre-harvest contractor has an important role to play and he bears

the cost of plucking, pooling, packaging, interstate transportation expenses and commission at

the wholesale market. The commission agent facilitates trade between contractor and wholesaler,

for which it charges a commission of 6-8%. While the wholesale price of litchi is around Rs 30-

40/kg (APMC Mumbai/Delhi), retail price in Mumbai/Delhi varies from Rs 55- 70/kg. In case of

litchi sold in retail markets of Bihar, retail price varies from Rs 25- 50 during the season.

Some of the salient features of the price build up are mentioned below:

• There are 4 intermediaries between the farmer and the consumer in the litchi supply

chain.

• The price build up from farmer to consumer is more than four times.

• Pre-harvest contractor incurs a cost of about Rs 12 in various activities such as plucking,

packaging, transportation etc. Besides this, around 10% produce is wasted in transit that

also adds up to his cost. Thus the total cost incurred by the contractor is around Rs 15 per

kg. The contractor earns a margin of Rs 3 per kg that is around 7 paisa of a consumer

rupee.

• The commission paid by the contractor to the commission agent constitutes 5 paisa of a

consumer rupee.

38


6 Muzaffarpur

6.1 Overview of the district

Muzaffarpur is a prominent district in North Bihar and is a major centre for agriculture trade in

the region. It is situated between 24o 54’N and 26o23’ and 84o53’E and 85o53’ longitude and at

an altitude of 51.81 metres. Muzaffarpur district has subtropical climate characterized by hot

summer, wet monsoon and dry winter. The climate conditions prevailing in various tracts of the

district are suitable for commercial cultivation of both varieties of litchi (Shahi and China).

However, the production sometimes gets affected (in a few patches) due to occasional weather

changes like cold wave, untimely rains and storms.

This district comes under the northwest alluvial plain zone which mainly consists of the basins

formed by river Burhi Gandak, Gandak, Baghmati and other small rivers flowing through the

district. The soil of the district is alluvial in nature and good in terms of fertility but the flood

always affects some parts of the district.

The total geographic area of this district is about 3.16 lakh hectares (3,172 sq km) with a

population of 37.4 lakh (Census 2001). The district is bounded on north by East Champaran and

Sitamarhi districts, on the south by Vaishali, east by Darbhanga and some parts of Samastipur

district and from the west by Saran and Gopalganj district. This district consists of 2

subdivisions and 16 blocks. This district has been a hub for horticultural commodities especially

in fruits like litchi, mango, and guava. Muzaffarpur district is famous for litchi not only in India

but also internationally for the Shahi variety that is grown extensively in this district. The

district is the top producer of litchi in India. The production details of litchi in Muzaffarpur

district since 1970 is presented in Table 6.1

39


Table 6.1: Production of Litchi in Muzaffarpur District

Year Area (ha) Production (mt) Productivity (mt/ha) 1970 1,330 5,320 4.0 1975 1,876 8,629 4.5 1980 2,522 11,349 4.5 1985 2,702 16,212 6.0 1990 6,045 36,270 6.0 1995 7,088 44,643 6.3 1998 7,288 44,653 6.1 1999 7,467 43,804 5.9 2000 7,467 61,000 8.0 2001 7,517 74,000 10.0 2002 7,667 53,000 6.0 2003 7,667 75,000 9.7 2004 7,173 85,548 11.9 2005 7,139 57,096 7.9 2006 7,157 52,687 7.3 2007 7,206 55,826 7.7

Source: www.muzaffarpur.nic.in

The district has shown some consistency in terms of growth of area under litchi cultivation.

However, in terms of productivity (litchi production in mt/ha) the performance has been

inconsistent. In some of the years (in 1999 and 2002) the fall in productivity has been alarming.

This inconsistency can be mainly attributed to factors like climate condition in that particular

year, timing of rainfall in early summer season, infestation of pests and insects, orchard

management by the farmer in that particular year. There are other factors like quality of

saplings, age, and variety but generally as these factors affect production over a prolonged

period, these fluctuations observed can be attributed mainly to the unfavourable agro climatic

conditions in these years.

6.2 Litchi Area in Muzaffarpur

As discussed in the previous sections, Litchi is extensively grown in almost all the blocks of the

district. The table below provides list of panchayats in all the blocks of Muzaffarpur. It is to be

noted that many other panchayats have sizable quantity of litchi production.

40


Figure 6.2: Litchi Panchayats in Muzaffarpur

Blocks Main Villages Aurai Adhampur Bhawani, Taraigwar, Rampur

Bandara Harpur, Bagahi, Pirapur, Rampur Dayal

Bochahan Bochahan, Goin, Karanpur, Bhagwanpur

Gaighat Maithi, Basantpur, Janta, Bakhri, Ramnagar

Kanti Sain, Lasgaripur, Dhamauli Ramnath Toli, Chapra Dharampur, Harchanda

Katra Dhanaur, Changel, Hathauri,Katai, Lakhanpur

Kurhani Chajjan, Harishankar, Maniyarpur, Maripur

Muraul Markan, Pilakhi, Gajpati, Mirapur

Marwan Kajra, Pratappur, Chatursi, Ghosaut

Minapur Madhuban, Kanti, Jamin, Mithiya, Mushahri Tola, Mushachak, Khemapatli, Dumaria

Motipur Rampur Ugan, Chakchuvar, Rampuri Sadan Mahima, Gopinathpur, Sadha

Mushahari Jhapan, Dhornpur, Jamalbad, Dwarikanagar, Bhikenpur, Rohua

Paroo Madhia, Paroo Bazar, Bajitpur, Jagdishpur, Anandpur

Sahebganj Madhubani, Navanpur, Prata patti, Ahiyapur, Guara, Halimpur

Sakra Repura, Mishraulia, Navalpur, Kateshar, Machain

Saraiya Saraiya, Basra, Ginjas, Berua, Chakna

Figure 6.3: Area and Production in Blocks

41


The following map in Figure 6.4 explains the overall condition of litchi growing area in the

district. On the basis of factors like area under litchi cultivation, farm productivity, overall

orchard management the whole Muzaffarpur region can be classified into three zones.

• High Productivity Zone: The first zone is of the high productivity areas consisting of

Kanti, Minapur, Mushhari, and Bochahan blocks. In these blocks the condition of litchi

orchards is much better than that in other blocks, in terms of orchard quality, orchard

management and overall productivity, and can offer a good scope for further

interventions such as collective marketing and value addition due greater economies of

scale.

• Average Productivity Zone: The second zone is of average productivity areas consisting

of Kurahni, Gaighat, Paroo, Motipur, Saraiya, Bandra and Muraoul blocks where

productivity, area and management of orchards are of average level. These blocks have

high potential of becoming high productivity blocks with focussed interventions

(particularly financial and market linkages).

• Below Average Productivity Zone: The third zone consists of below-average

productivity areas viz., Aurai, Katra, Sahebganj and Sakra blocks. Here the

concentration of litchi orchards is very thin in terms of area under litchi cultivation.

Also, the overall condition of litchi orchards was relatively poor as compared to that in

other blocks. These blocks require both technical (farm management practices) and post

harvest (market linkages) inputs for a sustained period of time in order to improve the

condition of litchi orchards in these blocks.

The map clearly shows that the areas closer to Muzaffarpur city are in high productivity zone

while the productivity falls as one move away from the center. The reason could be attributed to

better access to markets for farmers and accordingly incentives to produce quality products and

hence better orchard management.

42


Figure 6.4: Litchi Map of Muzaffarpur


The following table provides block wise area under litchi cultivation and number of plants in Muzaffarpur.

Figure 6.5: Area and Number of Plants

Blocks Total Area Under Litchi (Ha) Number of Plants

Aurai 141.00 18606.00

Bandara 342.00 49717.50

Bochahan 876.00 120097.50

Gaighat 504.00 56850.00

Kanti 1015.50 136815.00

Katra 91.50 12603.00

Kudhani 438.00 49242.00

43


Maraul 226.50 33114.00

Marwan 111.00 16881.00

Minapur 1380.00 152823.00

Motipur 307.50 40689.00

Mushahari 943.50 97747.50

Paroo 333.00 39942.00

Sahebganj 153.00 21019.50

Sakra 436.50 61015.50

Saraiya 235.50 32310.00

Total 7534.50 939472.50

Minapur emerges as the block with largest area under litchi in Muzaffarpur with 1380 Ha while

Kanti comes second in place with 1015.5 Ha. Third and fourth position is held by Mushari and

Bochahan. All the four blocks fall under high productivity zone and constitute 56% of the total

litchi area in Muzaffarpur.

Katra is last in position in terms of litchi area with just 91 Ha, preceded by Marwan, Auri and

Sahebganj at 111 Ha, 143 Ha and 153 Ha respectively.

Numbers of litchi plants are also highest in Minapur at 152823 and the four main blocks together

have more than 54% of litchi plants of the district. Litchi plants in each of the blocks, Auri,

Katra, Marwan and Sahebganj are less than 20, 000. Minapur has the largest number of plants.

Figure 6.6: Litchi Plants in Muzaffarpur

44


Figure 6.7: Plant Spacing

Spacing of Litchi: The average figure for

orchards in Muzaffarpur is 130 plants per

hectare which is much above the standard

recommendation of 100 plants per hectare.

Mushahari block has the lowest plant

spacing of 100 plants per Ha while Minapur,

Gaighat and Kudhani are very close to

optimum number of plant density. Most

other blocks have plant density more than

130. In Marwan, there are 150 plants per

hectare which is 50% more than the

recommended spacing. Plant spacing plays

important role in productivity of the tree and

hence reason for low productivity of litchi

could also be attributed to high plant density.

6.3 Litchi Varieties in Muzaffarpur

Figure 6.8 shows the Variety of Litchi Plants in Muzaffarpur

Blocks Shahi Shahi (%) China China (%)

Aurai 5718 31 12888 69

Bandara 29670 60 20047.5 40

Bochahan 81427.5 68 38670 32

Gaighat 43774.5 77 13075.5 23

Kanti 45526.5 33 91288.5 67

Katra 4777.5 38 7825.5 62

45


Kudhani 31921.5 65 17320.5 35

Maraul 15810 48 17304 52

Marwan 10437 62 6444 38

Minapur 85329 56 67494 44

Motipur 18045 44 22644 56

Mushahari 60243 62 37504.5 38

Paroo 31503 79 8439 21

Sahebganj 12630 60 8389.5 40

Sakra 30630 50 30385.5 50

Saraiya 19930.5 62 12379.5 38

Total 527373 56 412099.5 44

From the above table, it is clear that there are only two varieties produced in the district. Shahi,

being the traditional variety of the place is still higher compared to China, the smaller recent

variety. In blocks like Bochahan, Paroo and Minapur which are the traditional litchi growing

areas, the plantation is highly skewed in favour of Shahi variety (about twice the area under

China). In blocks like Kanti, Katra and Aurai the plantation area has more of China variety.

Percentage of Shahi is 56% and does not follow any pattern according to productivity zones.

Though Shahi’s percentage is higher in higher productivity zone, they also have significant

production of China. Paroo block mainly produces Shahi and it is not less than 30% in any of the

block of the district.

Analysis of the above set of data shows that Shahi variety of litchi is more popular among the

growers and occupies around 57% of total area under litchi plantation. However, it was

observed that this trend is changing and new farmers prefer China over Shahi. While interacting

with the growers, it was found that farmers’ inclination is shifting towards China due to its better

shelf life. One of the reasons for this had been perception of high production in China variety by

the farmers. Farmers feel that number of fruits per branch in China variety is more than of Shahi

variety. Another factor which has contributed to this trend is the timing of ripening of China

variety (by second week of June) which comes after that of Shahi (by third to fourth week of

May). The farmers opine that with this variety they are able to extend the litchi season by almost

one month. Also, the China variety has thicker ectoderm (outer covering of the fruit) because of

46


which it is more resistant to damages due to untimely rains. The overall inference that can be

made from this is that though Shahi is considered a superior variety (in terms of taste) farmer’s

preference is shifting towards China variety.

6.4 Production and Productivity in Muzaffarpur

Figure 6.9: Litchi Production and Productivity in Muzaffarpur

Blocks Average productivity per plant (Kg)

Total Production (MT)

Aurai 66.4 1235

Bandara 69.7 3465

Bochahan 76.6 9199

Gaighat 73.6 4184

Kanti 77.3 10576

Katra 68.5 863

Kudhani 71.5 3521

Maraul 70.2 2325

Marwan 71.3 1204

Minapur 77.8 11890

Motipur 70.7 2877

Mushahari 79.6 7781

Paroo 72.4 2892

Sahebganj 69.9 1469

Sakra 71.5 4363

Saraiya 71.6 2313

Total 72.41 68027

Production figures are highest for Minapur followed by Kanti at 11890 MT and 10567 MT

respectively. The blocks falling in high productivity zone produce more than 60% of total litchi

of the district. The average productivity of litchi plant is 72.41 kg in Muzaffarpur and total

production is pegged at 68027 MT. Block wise, Mushahari tops the list with average productivity

more than 79.6 kg/ plant while Minapur and Kanti are not far behind at around 77 kg/plant. The

productivity per hectare is depicted in the table below.

47


As shown, productivity varies between 8.0 MT/ Ha to 10.8 MT/ Ha. Marwan has the highest

productivity at 10.84 MT/Ha while Kudhani has the lowest productivity per hectare.

6.5 Litchi Orchard Profile in Muzaffarpur

Out of the total 7,467 orchards in Muzaffarpur district 9 % of the orchards are below 5 years of

age and 12 % between 5 to 10 years of age. About 65% of the orchards are between 10 to 30

years of age and the rest 14 % of the orchards are above 30 years of age.

Majority of the orchards which are below 10

years old belong to the new growers.

Growers of Bochahan, Minapur and

Mushahri block are traditional litchi growers

and a very small percentage of all the litchi

growers are new to litchi cultivation in these

blocks. Most of the litchi growers from

blocks like Bandara, Aurai and Sakra have

taken up litchi cultivation recently.

Source: NABCONS Report

In Motipur and Muraul blocks the proportion of new litchi growers is quite significant. The

proportion of new growers is least in Minapur block while it is most in Bandara block. In all the

blocks other than Minapur about 20% of the litchi growers can be considered as new growers. In

Muzaffarpur district about 17 to 18 % of the growers can be considered to be new growers.

48


7 Samastipur

7.1 Overview of the district

Samastipur is located centrally in Bihar and it covers an area of 2904 sq. km. The district is

bordered by River Baghmati on the north separating it from Darbhanga district. River Ganges

forms the southern border of the district while on the east it is bounded by the districts of

Begusarai and parts of Khagaria and on the west by Vaishali and some parts of Muzaffarpur.

Apart from Ganges and Baghmati, other rivers that flow through the district are Budhi Gandak

and Kamala Balaan.

The district has 20 blocks

and the head quarter is

located at Samastipur

town. The population of

the district is 33.94 lakhs

(2001 Census) with a

population density of

1196/sq. km. The ratio of

rural population is very

high with only 3.64% of

the population staying in

urban areas. The literacy

rate is 45.13% which is

lower than the national average.

Samastipur has rich fertile alluvial soil and agriculture is the major economic activity of the

district. The major crops which are grown in the district are paddy, wheat, mango, banana and

potato. In 1997-98, the gross irrigated area in Samastipur was 1.07 lakh ha although the main

source of irrigation is tube wells.

49


Samastipur has similar climate as Muzaffarpur and is suitable for litchi cultivation. It has been a

traditional litchi producer. However, the spread of cultivation here is not as wide as that in

Muzaffarpur. Fig 7.1 shows the declining trend of litchi production in the district though the

area remains almost constant. The productivity sharply decreased after 2003-04 and is hovering

around 7.5 since last few years.

Fig 7.1: Litchi Area and Production Trend in Samastipur

Source: National Horticulture Mission

7.2 Litchi Area in Samastipur

Five blocks were identified for litchi resource mapping in Samsatipur. However, during the

initial focus group discussion it was found that has been a selection bias at beginning of the study

and two important blocks- Rosera & Kalyanpur- in terms of litchi production have not been

selected while two insignificant blocks- Tajpur & Sarairanjan- have been included in the study.

For reliability of the study, both the blocks were included and hence the study was for seven

blocks.

50


Figure 7.2: Blocks and Villages in Samastipur

Blocks Main Villages

Rosera Sahyardih, Dhatiah, Mirzapur, Sonepur

Vibhitipur Narhan, Bairiya, Shankmohan, Manthi

Pusa Mahmada, Dighara, Harper, Jagdishpur

Kalyanpur Malinagar, Hazpurva, Saidpur, Barahata, Tara, Mohanpur

Samastipur Shambhipatti, Chatauna, Karpurigram, Bisanpur, Dudhpura

Tajpur Sadipur, Tajpur, Baghi

Sarairanjan Bhagwatipur, Sahjapur, Sarai

In Samastipur district, litchi production is spread across three different regions. Rosera and

Bibhutipur are found to be the regions with large production, Kalyanpur, Pusa and Samastipur

would be medium production region and Tajpur & Sarairanjan comprise of low production

region.

Within the blocks also, litchi is concentrated in few panchayats more than others, sometimes a

single panchayat having around 40-50% of the total litchi area of block.

The major litchi growing panchayats in Samastipur are listed below:

• Sonepur & Dhatia in Rosera block

• Narhan in Bibhutipur block

• Berhata and Malinagar in Kalyanpur

• Pradhantola &Mohmada in Pusa

Figure below provides total litchi area and number of plants in these seven blocks in Samastipur.

51


Figure 7.4: Block wise details of Litchi Area and Number of Plants in Samastipur

Blocks Total Area Under Litchi (Ha)

Number of Plants

Rosera 225.1 30957

Vibhitipur 285.0 39192

Pusa 106.3 14613

Kalyanpur 306.6 42152

Samastipur 240.3 33039

Tajpur 31.7 4359

Sarairanjan 191.9 26383

Total 1386.9 190695

Kalyanpur is the largest litchi producing block in the district. It has largest area under

agricultural land and litchi is spread in about 306 Ha in Kalyanpur. Bibhutipur and Samastipur

are at second and third positions with 285 Ha and 240 Ha. These three blocks account for more

than 69% of total litchi acreage of the district. A graphical representation of litchi acreage and

production is shown below. Figure 7.5: Area and Production of litchi in

Samastipur

52


Sarairanjan, Pusa and Rosera account for the rest of the acreage while Tajpur has least acreage.

Rosera despite being a small block, litchi production is concentrated in most of the panchayats of

the block. Tajpur has small litchi area at 31.7 Ha. However, the advantage of the block lies in

being located along the National Highways.

Kalyanpur block has the highest number of plants with more than 40,000 plants. Four blocks of

Kalyanpur, Bibhutipur, Sarairanjana and Samastipur have more than 90% of the plants from

these seven blocks.

Tajpur has the least number of plants with around 4300 plants while Pusa and Rosera have

around 9600 plants.

Figure 7.6: Number of Plants in Samastipur

7.3 Litchi Varieties in Samastipur

In terms of varieties being grown it is found that Shahi Litchi is grown more than China in

Samastipur. Overall percentage of Shahi Litchi in these 7 blocks is 59% while China is at 41%.

During the field work, other varieties were not found.

53


Figure 7.7: Litchi Varieties and Number of Plants in Samastipur


Rosera 17026 55 13931 45

Vibhitipur 31354 80 7838 20

Pusa 9498 65 5114 35

Kalyanpur 29506 70 12646 30

Samastipur 8260 25 24779 75

Tajpur 1744 40 2615 60

Sarairanjan 20315 77 6068 23

Total 117703 59 72992 41

7.4 Production and Productivity in Samastipur

The total production figure for Samastipur is estimated to be 13,583 MT with average

productivity being 71.2 Kg per plant. The productivity is highest in Kalyanpur block at 77.1 kg/

plant followed by Rosera and Bibhutipur at 75 kg and 74 Kg per plant respectively.

Figure 7.8: Production and Productivities in Samastipur


Total Production (MT) Productivity (MT/Ha)

Rosera 75 2322 10.31

Vibhitipur 74 2900 10.18

Pusa 72.4 1058 9.96

Kalyanpur 77.1 3250 10.60

Samastipur 63 2081 8.66

Tajpur 59 257 8.11

Sarairanjan 65 1715 8.94

The three major blocks, Kalyanpur, Bibhutipur and Rosera contribute more than 70% of litchi of

the district.

54


Figure 7.9: Productivity of Litchi in Samastipur

Average productivity per hectare in Samastipur is 9.54 MT/ Ha and for all the blocks it lies

between 8.1 MT/ Ha to 10.6 MT/Ha. Kalyanpur has the highest productivity with 10.66 MT/ Ha.

Rosera, Bibhutipur and Pusa are close to 10 MT/ Ha while Samastipur, Sarairanjan and Tajpur

have poor productivity.

7.5 Litchi Orchard Profile in Samastipur

The scatter plot shows the area under litchi cultivation for respondents in Samastipur district.

About 69 % of the farmers have litchi area less than 5 Ha.

55


Largest number of orchards, (57% ) in

Samstipur district are in the range of 1

Ha to 3 Ha accounting for about 800 Ha

area. Medium sized orchards of 3Ha to 5

Ha comprise of about 150 Ha. There are

more number of orchards of size above 5

Ha than those of less than 1 Ha size.

About 270 Ha area is made up of large

sized orchards of more than 5 Ha. The

smaller orchards of less than 1 ha make

up about 180 Ha in the district.

56


8. Vaishali

8.1 Overview of the District

Vaishali is centrally located in Bihar and spread over an area of 2036 Sq. Km. The district is

bordered by River Ganga on the south which separates Vaishali from Patna District. River

Gandak in the west separates it from Saran district while on the east and north it is bounded by

Samastipur and Muzaffarpur districts respectively.

The district has 16 blocks and the head quarter is located at Hajipur. The population of the

district is about 23.42 Lakh (2001 census) with a population density of 1222 persons per sq km.

The ratio of rural population is very high with only 7.3% of the population staying in urban

areas. The literacy rate is 48.55% which is lower than the national average.

The district has fertile alluvial soil. The sole source of irrigation is private tube wells. In 1998-99

about 0.75 lakh ha was irrigated from tube wells. Paddy, wheat, vegetables, banana, watermelon,

litchi and potato are the major crops cultivated in the district. With a total area of 1.8 lakh ha

under grain crops, Vaishali

produces close to 3 lakh MT of

various grains. The fruit and

vegetable production is close

to 7.5 lakh MT.

Vaishali is the second largest

producer of litchi after

Muzaffarpur. Like

Muzaffarpur and Samastipur,

Vaishali has also been a

traditional litchi growing

region and the climate and soil

57


is suitable for litchi cultivation. However, according to the NHM data in last few years, the

production seems to have sharply declined from about 40 thousands MT to about 26 thousands

MT while area has remained fairly constant at about 3500 Ha. (Fig 8.1)

Fig 8.1: Litchi Area and Production Trend in Vaishali


8.2 Litchi Area in Vaishali

For the resource mapping, five blocks that were traditional litchi growing areas were considered,

Bhagwanpur, Goraul, Mahua, Lalganj and Vaishali. However, during quick survey and FGD, it

was found that Belsar also produces good quantity of litchi and hence the detailed survey

included Belsar as one of the blocks for Vaishali. . Figure 8.2 provides a detail of major litchi

producing Panchayats in the selected blocks.

Figure 8.2: Litchi Villages in Vaishali


Bhagwanpur Warispur, Bhagwanpur, Harbanspur, Manganpur

Goraul Katarmala, Mohamadur, Adampur, Islampur, Pirapur

58


Mahua Fulwaria, Chawkmujahid, Mirzanagar

Lalganj Jalalpur, Namidih, Parmanandpur

Belsar Sien, Karnejee, Paterah, Kataru, Rikhar, Raudi Pokhar

Vaishali Hussaina, Kamtauliya, Nawada, Simra

Lalganj merges as the block with largest area of litchi in Vaishali district with an estimated

acreage of 527 Ha followed by Bhagwanpur having an estimate 508 Ha and Mahua at an

estimate of 492 Ha. Following table has details of total litchi area and number of plants in the

selected blocks. Lalganj has the highest number of plants in the district.

Figure 8.3: Litchi Area and Number of Plants in Vaishali


Number of Plants

Bhagwanpur 508.70 69947

Goraul 451.01 62014

Mahua 492.18 67674

Lalganj 526.98 72459

Belsar 280.15 38521

Vaishali 461.82 63501

Total 2720.84 374115

Distribution of litchi area and production in Vaishali is shown in figure 8.4.1. The production is

highest in Bhagwanpur at 4756 MT due to larger productivity figure for the block as compared to

Lalganj which has the largest litchi area. Bhagwanpur, Goraul, Vaishali and Mahua command

more than 75% of the total area and production.

59


Figure 8.4 Area and Production in Vaishali

Total area in Vaishali in these six blocks is estimated to be 2720 Ha and total estimated

production is 24032 MT.

Figure 8.5: Number of Plants in Vaishali

Total number of litchi plants estimated in Vaishali district is 3, 74,115. Three blocks, Lalganj,

Bhagwanpur, and Mahua have close to seventy thousands plants. Lalganj has highest number

60


with about 72,459 plants followed by Bhagwanpur at 69,947 plants and Mahua ay 67,674 Plants.

Goraul and Vaishali have close to 63,000plants each.

8.3 Litchi varieties in Vaishali

Vaishali is slightly different from Muzaffarpur and Samastipur in with respect to varieties of

litchi grown. In Vaishali, the numbers of plants of China variety are more than that of Shahi

variety as shown in the figure below. However in the specific blocks of Bhagwanpur and Goraul,

Shahi is the major variety grown.

Figure 8.6 Varieties of Litchi in Vaishali


Bhagwanpur 45465 65 24481 35

Goraul 33487 54 28526 46

Mahua 29100 43 38574 57

Lalganj 44925 62 27535 38

Belsar 13482 35 25038 65

Vaishali 19685 31 43816 69

186145 48 187970 52

8.4 Production and Productivity in Vaishali

The average productivity in Vaishali is about 64 kg per plant. The block wise productivities are

given in the figure below.

Figure 8.7: Productivity of Litchi in Vaishali



Productivity (MT/Ha)

Bhagwanpur 68 4756 9.4 Goraul 70 4341 9.6 Mahua 65 4399 8.9 Lalganj 62 4492 8.5

61


Belsar 58 2234 8.0 Vaishali 60 3810 8.3 63.83 24033 8.8

Average productivity in Vaishali is 8.8 MT/Ha, far below Muzaffarpur and Samastipur. The

figure below shows that the productivity is highest in Goraul block at 9.6 MT/ Ha and it is least

in Belsar at 8.0 MT/ Ha. The productivity figure for Bhagwanpur is 9.4 MT/ Ha.

Figure 8.8 Productivity of Litchi in Vaishali

8.5 Litchi Orchard Profile in Vaishali

Figure 8.9 Scatter plot for Litchi Areas

62


The scatter plot for litchi areas of respondents in Vaishali shows the pattern of orchard size. It is

evident that majority of the orchards are smaller than 5 Ha. Very few of the orchard are large

sized between 5 and 10 Ha while out there is just one respondent out of 50 with larger than 10

Ha litchi area.

Figure 8.10 Orchard Profile in Vaishali

The figure 8.10 below shows that the largest

number of orchards, (56% ) in Vaishali district

are in the range of 1 Ha to 3 Ha accounting for

about 1523 Ha area. The second largest area,

435 Ha is of orchard size less than 1 Ha. While

both large orchard size, between 3Ha to 5 Ha

and more than 5 Ha account for equal area at

380 Ha.

63


9 East Champaran

9.1 Overview of the District

East (Purbi) Champaran, popularly known as Motihari, is located at the North Western end of

Bihar. It is spread across 3968.0 square kilometer divided into 27 administrative blocks. It is

surrounded by Sheohar and Sitamarhi in East, West Champaran in West, Muzaffarpur in South

and Gopalganj in South Western side. It shares international border with Nepal in the North.

Great Gandak and Baghmati are the two main rivers flowing through the district. According to

the census 2001, overall literacy is 37.5%; male literacy is 49.3% while that of women is 24.3%.

Agriculture is the main occupation in the district with primary crops being paddy, sugar cane,

jute and pulses. The total cultivable land in the district is 303,923 Hectare of which 176,115 Ha

is irrigated while rest 127,808 Ha is non irrigated land.

The district is famous for sugar

cane cultivation and has a

number of sugar mills in

erstwhile Champaran district.

However, with the demise of

sugar industry in Bihar,

sugarcane production was not

very profitable and farmers

started exploring other

alternatives. Being close to

Muzaffarpur and having similar

climate, Litchi cultivation

became one of the options and many farmers moved to litchi from sugarcane. The blocks closer

to Muzaffarpur, Mahesi, Chakiya, Madhuban were more influenced and they have good amount

of litchi production. According to the study conducted, these four blocks produce about 10,000

MT of litchi.

64


Litchi cultivation in East Champaran being a recent phenomenon, a majority of the orchards is

about 2 decades old. The estimated numbers of plants are 153602. Infrastructure for litchi

marketing and storage in the district has not developed and hence supply chain is not efficient.

The following sections discuss litchi resources in the district in detail.

The NHM data shows a very high figure for area and production of litchi in East Champaran

over last ten years. The area is constantly increasing in the district and so the level of production.

The resource mapping was commissioned only for two blocks which was later increased to four

blocks after FGD. It was also found that Litchi has come up as one of the most preferred crop in

flood resistant high and medium lands. Litchi is being cultivated in interior blocks as well which

includes Pakhri Dayal, Motihari, Ghorasahan, Pipra Kothi, Areraj, Turkauliya, Madhuban,

Harsidhi and other blocks.

Figure 9.1: Litchi Area and Production Trend on East Champaran


The estimate for entire district may not be accurate in absence of the data from other than four

blocks. However, the survey result estimates 1100 Ha litchi area and about 10,000 of litchi from

these four blocks alone making East Champaran as a dark horse in Litchi Map surpassing

Vaishali and Samastipur. When considered for other blocks, the number may be much higher for

the entire district. .

65


9.2 Litchi Area in East Champaran

As mentioned earlier litchi cultivation has picked up in East Champaran over the last two

decades. Most of the litchi orchards are about 20- 25 years old. Though four blocks close to

Muzaffarpur, Mahesi, Chakiya, Kalyanpur and Madhuban have huge acreage, the areas farther

also seems to have significant number of orchards.

For the current study, only Mahesi and Chakiya were selected while Kalyanpur and Madhuban

were added after FGD. The table below shows important panchayats in four blocks and other

blocks of litchi production.

Figure 9.2 Litchi Blocks and Important Villages in East Champaran


Mahesi Bhurkundwa, Mahesi, Kataha, Salempur, Nonimahal

Chakiya Baragobind, Baisaha, Tarania

Kalyanpur Shambhuchak, Madan Sirsia, Rajpur

Madhuban Madhuban, Keepapur, Dihu Tola, Math, Saungia

Pakhri Dayal, Motihari, Ghorasahan, Pipra Kothi, Areraj, Turkauliya, Madhuban, Harsidhi

Figure 9.3 shows litchi resources in East Champaran. Total area under litchi in these four blocks

is estimated to be 1117 Ha. Mahesi commands the largest area and has about 397 Ha while

Kalyanpur closely follows with 377 Ha. Chakiya has about 204Ha and Madhuban has about 139

ha. Total number of plants in all these blocks is estimated to be about 1, 53,602.

Figure 9.3: Litchi Area and Number of Plants in East Champaran


Number of Plants

Mahesi 397 54607

Chakiya 204 28033 Kalyanpur 377 51882

66


Madhuban 139 19080

Total 1117 1,53,602

Figure 9.4 depicts the area and production of litchi in the district. As shown above, Mahesi leads

in both area and production followed by Kalyanpur. Mahesi produces about 4200 MT while

Kalyanpur produces about 3200 MT of litchi

Figure 9.4 Litchi area and Production in East Champaran

Total number of litchi plants is estimated to be 1, 53,602 in the district. Mahesi has about 54

thousand litchi plants while Kalyanpur has around 52 thousand litchi plants. Chakiya has about

28 thousand and Madhuban has a small number of 19 thousands plants. (Fig 8.3)

Figure 9.5 Number of Litchi Plants in East Champaran

67


9.3 Litchi varieties in East Champaran

East Champaran has more China varieties than Shahi, the ratio being almost 60:40. In all the

blocks, we surveyed China is in majority, Madhuban having largest percentage of China variety

of litchi plants at 70% and Mahesi has close to 60%. Figure 9.6 shows the number of plants and

variety wise percentage.

Figure 9.6: Litchi Variety in East Champaran


Mahesi 21843 40 32764 60

Chakiya 12615 45 15418 55

Kalyanpur 23347 45 28535 55

Madhuban 5724 30 13356 70

63529 40 90074 60

9.4 Production and Productivity in East Champaran

The average productivity in East Champaran is 9.14 MT/ Ha.

Figure 9.7: Productivity of Litchi in East Champaran



Productivity (MT/Ha)

Mahesi 78 4259 10.73

Chakiya 66 1850 9.08

Kalyanpur 62 3217 8.53 Madhuban 60 1145 8.25 66.5 10471 9.14

The figure below shows that the productivity is highest in Mahesi at 10.73 MT/ Ha followed by

Chakiya at 9.08 MT/ Ha.

68


Figure 9.8: Productivity of Litchi in East Champaran

9.5 Litchi Orchard Profile in East Champaran

The scatter plot of litchi area of farmers (figure 9.9) is more evenly spread than other districts.

Figure 9.9: Scatter plot of Litchi area of farmers.

Figure 9.10: Profile of Orchards in East Champaran

The figure below shows that there are a large

number of farmers having litchi area less than

4 Ha; about 60% of the farmers have less than

less than 3 Ha of litchi area. The share of the

medium sized litchi orchard (between 3Ha – 5

Ha) is 18% while the share of the largest size

orchards is 22%.

69


10 West Champaran, Darbhanga and Sitamarhi

10.1 Overview of West Champaran

West Champaran is located at western end of Bihar. It shares international border with Nepal in

the North, Gopalganj and East Champaran in the south, Padarua and Deoria district of Uttar

Pradesh in West and East Champaran in east. Total area of the district is 5228 square kilometer

of which only 43% is agricultural land. West Champaran is the only district in Bihar with a

sizable forest area of 18% of total land. Gandak or Narayani and Sikrahana or little Gandak are

the two important rivers of this district.

Agriculture is the main occupation of the district. Tirhut, Tribeni and Done canals are the most

prominent canals operating in this district. They get their water supply from Gandak river at

Valmikinagar, the northern most part of the district bordering Nepal.

West Champaran is not a

traditional litchi growing

area. It is famous for

sugarcane production,

which has drastically

reduced due to poor

conditions of sugar mills.

It is expected that and

commonly perceived by

the government sources

that litchi has replaced

sugarcane and hence has

acquired a prominent position as important fruit crop. And the available data from NHM also

shows the similar trend citing a very huge area of litchi in the district. (Fig 10.1)

70


Fig 10.1: Litchi Area and Production Trend on West Champaran


However, field level studies showed a completely different picture for West Champaran and it

was found that the district has very low acreage of litchi. The trend showed a very high level of

production around 2002-03 which decreased recently with production coming down to 13,000

MT. Though various schemes of NHM implemented in the district are promoting litchi

cultivation in last three years, the area under litchi is still not as high as other litchi producing

districts.

10.2 Litchi Resources in West Champaran

Two blocks of West Champaran, Barian and Narkatiyaganj were identified for resource

mapping. During FGD stage it was suggested that a large number of litchi plants have been

planted in last 2-3 years and hence the number of blocks for detailed survey were increased.

However, the detailed survey revealed that most of the new litchi plants have been sown for

domestic purpose. In fact, mango orchards are coming up in large numbers as a result of

initiatives of National Horticulture Mission.

71


Figure 10.2: Main Litchi blocks and Panchayats in West Champaran

Districts Blocks Villages

West Champaran

Narkatiyaganj, Bairia, Chanpatiya, Nautan, Manjhaulia

D.K.Sikarpur, Dumaria, Pakadiya, Jagdishpur, Pipra, Saria, Tumkaria

In addition to Narkatiyaganj and Barian, the blocks adjoining East Champaran, Nautan and

Manjhaulia have some litchi orchards. Chanpatiya also have some orchards. Most of the old

orchards of litchi are in D.K.Sikarpur, Dumaria, Pakadiya, Jagdishpur, Pipra, Saria, Tumkaria

Villages.

The total litchi acreage in the district including all the blocks is estimated to be about 350 Ha

while the estimate for number of plants is around forty thousand based on an average of 120

plants per hectare. The production is estimated to be around 2500 MT. Productivity is about 7

MT/ Ha which is low compared to other districts.

Figure 10.3: Litchi Resources in West Champaran

District Area (Ha) Number of Plants Production (MT) Productivity (MT/Ha)

West Champaran 343 41,140 2400 7

The scatter plot for litchi area of farmers shows that most of the orchard size are small, 41% of

them are less than 1 Ha size while 24% of them are between 1Ha and 3Ha. As mentioned above,

there are few large farms traditionally owned by the families.

72


10.3 Sitamarhi

Sitamarhi is one of the most

backward districts of Bihar. It is

surrounded by Nepal in North, East

Champaran in west, Madhubani and

Darbhanga in east and Muzaffarpur

in south. The main occupation in the

district is agriculture the district is

affected by flood every year which

forces people to abandon their

villages during flood time.

Baghmati river which changes its

course every year is the main reason

for floods.

Looking at NHM data, Sitamarhi is touted as having the third largest litchi area in the state with

2097 Ha, after Muzaffarpur and Vaishali. In terms of production also, it is much above other

districts at more than 15,000 MT. (Fig 10.4)

Figure 10.4: Litchi Area and Production Trend in Sitamarhi


73


Strikingly, the field survey revealed a completely different picture as described below. Two

blocks of Sitamarhi adjoining Muzaffarpur-Dumra and Runisaidpur were selected for litchi

resource mapping. However, during quick assessment and FGD, it was found that Sitamarhi

district has insignificant litchi acreage. Even blocks adjoining Muzaffarpur do not cultivate much

litchi. The main reason cited for the above is vagaries of nature in terms of devastating flood

every year. Litchi plants may not be able to sustain continuous floods and hence it was found that

litchi cultivation may not be suitable for this district.

There is however a panchayat, Janipur in Nanpur block which has some significant litchi

production. The others are mostly scattered in few blocks which remain relatively unaffected by

floods.

The estimate for litchi in Sitamarhi district is very low at about 125 Ha and number of plants

about 15,000. The total production of litchi in the district is about 630 MT.

Figure 10.5: Litchi Resources in Sitamarhi

Districts Blocks Villages Area (Ha)

Number of Plants

Production (MT)

Sitamarhi Nanpur, Dumra, Runisaidpur

Janipur, Rewari, Athari

125 15000 630

74


10.4 Darbhanga

Darbhanga is surrounded in north

by Madhubani district, on the south

by Samastipur district, on the east

by Saharsa district and on the west

by Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur

districts. The total area of the

district is 2279 square kilometer. It

is divided into three subdivisions,

eighteen blocks, 329 panchayats

and 1269 villages. Three important

rivers of North Bihar, Kosi, Gandak

and Baghmati flows throw Darbhanga.

The District of Darbhanga can be divided into four natural divisions. The eastern portion

contains fresh silt deposited by the Kosi River. This region was under the influence of Kosi

floods till the construction of Kosi embankment in the Second Five Year Plan. It contains large

tracts of sandy land covered with wild marsh. The second division comprised of the anchals

lying south of the Burhi Gandak river and is the most fertile area in the district. It is also on

higher level than the other parts of the district and contains very few marshes. It is well suited to

the rabi crops. The third natural region is the doab between the Burhi Gandak and Baghmati and

consists of the low-lying areas dotted over by chaur and marshes. It gets floods every year. The

fourth division covers the Sadar sub-division of the district. This tract is watered by numerous

streams and contains some up-lands.

According to NHM data, Darbhanga has about 800 Ha of Litchi areas and about 6000 MT

production (Fig 10.6)

75


Figure 10.6: Litchi Area and Production Trend in Darbhanga


As in the case of Sitamarhi, the field survey revealed that both area and production under litchi

have drastically gone down in Darbhanga. Two blocks of the district, Jale and Bahadurpur were

selected for resource mapping of litchi. However, it was found that the district does not have

significant acreage under litchi. Litchi is cultivated in few pockets and mainly in the orchards of

small size in blocks Bahadurpur, Dekuli and Jale

The estimate for litchi acreage in Darbhanga is about 100 Ha, for plants are 12500 and

production is about 525 MT.

Figure 10.7: Litchi Resources in Darbhanga

Districts Blocks Villages Area (Ha)

Number of Plants

Production (MT)

Darbhanga Bahadurpur, Dekuli, Jale

Baraura, Maniyari, Khairpur, Jalwara

100 12500 525

76


11 Conclusion and Recommendations

The resource mapping exercise has been instrumental in reiterating the huge potential of Litchi

sub sector in Bihar. It also underscores the inefficiencies and gaps at various levels both in

cultivation aspects as well as the post harvest stage along the entire value chain. This chapter

aims at summarizing the findings of the study, drawing attention to the gaps and recommending

strategies which would provide impetus to the sub sector.

11.1 Estimate for the districts

Based on the study conducted, an estimate is provided for the districts and state with following

assumptions:

• Samastipur & Vaishali: The blocks covered in the study constitutes about 80% of the area

and production

• East Champaran &West Champaran: The blocks covered in the study constitutes about

50% of the area and production

• Darbhanga & Sitamarhi: The blocks covered in the study constitutes about 80% of the

area and production

These seven districts together have litchi area of about 16095 Ha and production of about

144882 MT, about 3% more than the data from National Horticulture Mission (NHM). This is

closer to the data from Department of Horticulture which puts the overall value of these districts

at 18426 Ha and 140362 MT for 2007-08. However, the major difference lies in the estimate for

three districts, Sitamarhi, West Champaran, and Darbhanga. The figures are compared in Table

12.1 below. The percentage in parenthesis shows variation of estimate w.r.t the government

figures.

We can observe that the largest variations at 92%, both for area and production are for

Sitamarahi district followed by Darbhanga at 83%.

77


Figure 11. 1: Estimates for the districts

Estimation for the districts DoH Data

District Area (Ha) Production (MT) Area (Ha) Production (MT)

Muzaffarpur 7535 (+4%) 68,027 (+21%) 7206 56006

Samastipur 1734 (+56%) 16,979 (+96%) 1107 8634

Vaishali 3628 (+3%) 32,044 (+20%) 3513 26489

East Champaran 2234 (+15%) 20,942 (+42%) 1887 14718

West Champaran 686 (-62%) 4,800 (-63%) 1808 13118

Sitamarhi 156 (-92%) 1,125 (-92%) 2097 15518

Darbhanga 123 (-84%) 965 (-83%) 808 5879

Total 16095 (-14%) 144882 (+3%) 18426 140362

Further, for the state, the estimated total litchi area is about 22532 Ha with a production of about

2,02,934 MT based on the assumption that these seven districts have about 60% of total litchi

area of state. There are other areas centered in around Bhagalpur which are emerging as major

litchi production hubs which supply to Eastern India.

A fully grown, healthy litchi plant should yield about 100 kg per. However, during survey it was

found that very few orchards have optimum yield and the productivity is much below. Average

production was about 69 kg per plant varying between 58 kg to 72 kg for the seven districts.

Hardly 4% of farmers are getting an average yield of more than 100 kg and about 5% of farmers

are not able to get even 50 kg of yield per plant.

11.2 Recommendations

The study recognizes the immense scope for development in production and productivity of

Litchi in the identified regions to take the advantage of favorable agro climatic conditions unique

78


to Litchi cultivation. A lot of emphasis is given to the information dissemination and awareness

on the technical aspects pertaining to cultivation and post harvest practices considering the

exacting nature of the produce. A matrix detailing service specific recommendations is given in

this section. Also, an attempt has been made to suggest possible interventions and policy

implications relevant at this juncture.

The following are few pointers towards potential areas for intervention:

• Strengthen the extension machinery in order to educate orchard owners as well as PHCs

on best package of practices.

• Field Visits could be further streamlined utilizing the data base built during the exercise.

Orchard owners could be organized into groups and field visits could be organized to

those blocks which are making headway in terms of technology adaptation and scientific

orchard management.

• Information dissemination by the department shall play a crucial role in eliminating the

skepticism about adaptation of certain recommended practices like plant spacing, soil and

leaf testing, fertilizer application, etc

• Timely availability of finance and incentives, dovetailing with other available schemes

are the need of the hour for entrepreneurs venturing into sector specific interventions like

reefer vans, pack houses, processing facilities, etc.

• Awareness campaigns could be organized to disseminate information on the distant

markets, export markets available, product specifications, etc

• Mechanisms could be evolved to share information on Price trends and demand

projections to the farming and trading community at large.

• The success stories at various levels (For example successful farmers, PHCs, traders,

processors) could be documented and published in order to evoke a sense of pride within

the community. This could be a stepping stone in brand building exercise for this sub

sector.

.

79

Litc

hi

Re

sou

rce

Ma

pp

ing

F

ina

l R

ep

ort

Typ

e of

ser

vice

D

escr

ipti

on

Rec

omm

enda

tion

s

i. T

rain

ing

and

tech

nolo

gica

l as

sist

ance

to

farm

ers

Far

me

rs t

o be

mad

e aw

are

of

the

need

for

bet

ter

culti

vatio

n pr

actic

es fo

r

• P

lant

spa

cing

an

d sc

he

dule

of

plou

ghin

g,

mul

chin

g

• Ir

riga

tion

pra

ctic

es a

nd f

requ

ency

•

Usa

ge

of

fert

ilize

rs

and

othe

r nu

triti

onal

in

puts

•

Pos

t ha

rves

t m

anag

emen

t: p

luck

ing,

sor

ting,

gr

adin

g, p

acka

ging

etc

.

• T

o pr

ovid

e be

tter

in

stitu

tiona

l lin

kage

s of

fa

rmer

s w

ith e

xist

ing

inst

itutio

ns.

• O

rgan

izin

g tr

aini

ng f

or f

arm

ers

and

prov

idin

g ex

posu

re to

bet

ter

pra

ctic

es

ii.

Fac

iliti

es f

or s

oil

test

ing

and

othe

r la

b an

alys

is

Soi

l qu

ality

is

an i

mpo

rtan

t fa

ctor

in

det

erm

inin

g th

e ov

eral

l pr

oduc

tivity

. T

he

nutr

ition

al

requ

irem

ent

coul

d be

ass

esse

d on

ly s

oil

test

ing

but

th

e re

gion

ha

s sh

orta

ge

of

such

sh

ort

age

of

an

alyt

ical

labo

rato

ry.

• F

acili

ties

for

test

ing

sho

uld

be e

stab

lishe

d in

th

e re

gion

, ei

ther

by

gove

rnm

ent

or i

n pu

blic

pr

ivat

e pa

rtn

ersh

ip m

ode

iii.

Skill

up

grad

atio

n of

labo

rs in

pre

-ha

rves

t an

d po

st

harv

est

man

agem

ent

Man

y o

f th

e pr

e an

d po

st h

arve

st m

etho

ds r

equi

re

skill

ed

labo

rs

whi

ch

are

sc

antil

y av

aila

ble.

T

he

scar

city

is

felt

seve

rely

dur

ing

harv

estin

g se

ason

an

d it

adve

rsel

y af

fect

s th

e qu

ality

of

litch

i du

e to

im

prop

er p

luck

ing

and

han

dlin

g.

• G

over

nmen

t m

ay

cons

ider

est

ablis

hmen

t o

f sk

ill

scho

ols

for

impa

rtin

g a

gric

ultu

ral

trai

ning

to

labo

rers

. T

here

are

man

y sc

hem

es

of G

oI f

or

skill

impr

ovem

ent

in s

ervi

ce s

ecto

r w

hich

can

be

utili

zed

for

this

.

iv.

Bet

ter

sort

ing,

gr

adin

g an

d pa

ckag

ing

met

hods

Cur

rent

ly,

the

was

tage

le

vel

in

supp

ly

chai

n

is

abou

t 10

-15%

m

ostly

du

e to

im

prop

er

sort

ing,

gr

adin

g an

d pa

cka

ging

et

c.

Thi

s lo

ss

can

be

min

imiz

ed b

y ad

optin

g b

ette

r m

etho

ds.

Fum

igat

ion:

In

othe

r co

untr

ies,

oxa

lic a

cid

is a

lso

used

, whi

ch m

ay

be e

xplo

red

for

this

re

gion

. P

acka

ging

: Li

tchi

bu

nche

s m

ay

be

pack

ed

in

mod

ified

atm

osph

ere

pack

ing

(MA

P)

whi

ch a

llow

s fo

r br

eath

ing

port

and

ma

y be

sto

red

in c

old

stor

age

fo

r lo

nger

she

lf lif

e.

80

Litc

hi

Re

sou

rce

Ma

pp

ing

F

ina

l R

ep

ort

Fum

igat

ion:

F

umig

atio

n b

y su

lphu

r di

oxid

e is

us

ed

to

cont

rol

bro

wni

ng

of

peric

arp

an

d m

an

y pa

ck h

ouse

s a

re fu

mig

atin

g lit

chi.

.

As

thes

e fa

cilit

ies

requ

ired

bei

ng s

usta

inab

le i

n lo

ng

run,

th

ese

ma

y be

pr

om

oted

b

y pr

ivat

e se

cto

r in

co

llabo

ratio

n w

ith t

he g

ove

rnm

ent.

The

re a

re v

ario

us

sche

mes

of

Go

I and

GoB

whi

ch c

an b

e av

aile

d b

y th

e

entr

epre

neur

s.

v.

E

stab

lishm

ent

of

Coo

l cha

in

faci

litie

s

The

re a

re t

otal

of

5 pa

ck h

ouse

s in

the

are

a w

hich

co

uld

proc

ess

only

ab

out

1000

M

T-

1200

M

T

annu

ally

. T

his

is

insu

ffic

ient

to

gi

ven

the

larg

e

quan

tity

of li

tchi

trad

e in

the

sta

te.

Pac

k ho

uses

w

ith

pre-

cool

ing

cham

bers

at

fe

w

maj

or p

rodu

ctio

n cl

uste

rs m

ay

be

set

up t

o en

sure

fir

st c

oolin

g w

ithin

5-6

hou

rs o

f har

vest

. C

old

stor

age

& R

efer

Van

s/tr

ucks

: F

or lo

nge

r sh

elf

life

whi

ch m

ay

be

requ

ired

for

expo

rt,

litch

i pa

cked

in

MA

P c

an b

e st

ored

at 1

.5 d

egre

e C

elsi

us,

incr

eas

es

its s

helf

life

by

5 to

8 w

eeks

. F

or s

hort

ter

m s

tora

ge

i.e.

less

tha

n 2

wee

ks,

it m

ay

be s

tore

d at

7 d

egr

ee

C

elsi

us.

vi.

Mar

keti

ng

Infr

astr

uctu

re

The

ove

rall

effic

ienc

y of

litc

hi v

alue

ch

ain

ma

y in

crea

se w

ith m

ore

alte

rnat

ive

chan

nel

s fo

r lit

chi

selli

ng.

At

pres

ent,

PH

C’s

are

the

sin

gle

larg

est

chan

nels

w

hich

ha

s lo

ts

defic

ienc

y on

te

rms

of

qual

ity

and

pric

e re

aliz

atio

n to

fa

rmer

s.

The

po

pula

rity

of

priv

ate

mar

kets

is

an i

ndic

atio

n of

ne

ed fo

r su

ch m

ore

ma

rket

s.

In

free

un

regu

late

d m

arke

t fo

r a

gric

ultu

ral

and

hort

icul

tura

l pr

oduc

e,

mor

e m

ultip

urpo

se

mar

kets

sh

ould

be

enco

ura

ged

whe

re f

arm

ers

can

sel

l th

eir

prod

uce

and

also

ge

t ot

her

prod

uctio

n an

d po

st

prod

uctio

n re

late

d fa

cilit

ies.

81


Appendices I: Database of Farmers and contact numbers from the detailed survey

1. Muzaffarpur

Village Block Contact No No. of litchi trees

ANAND PUR PAROO 9934392819 500

MUSHACHAK MINAPUR 9939265151 1200

MURSHANDI TOLE MATHIA MINAPUR 9507270702 1020

LASGARIPUR KANTI 9430218763 300

SADHA MOTIPUR 9334729119 500

DRONPUR MUSHAHARI 9430865628 600

BAJITPUR PAROO 9931207823 250

KHEMAEPATIL MINAPUR 9852968084 200

MANIYARI KURHANI 9798966827 600

DHAMAULI RAMNATH

KANTI 9931667578 300

CHAPRA DHARMPUR KANTI 9708022143 165

RAMPURISDAN MOTIPUR 9431082986 250

JAMALABAD MUSHAHARI 9905224829 240

DRONPUR MUSHAHARI 9334531459 300

82


2. Samsatipur

Village Block Farmers Contact Number

Litchi Tree

Sonepur Rosra Ramakant Jha 9771121329 303

Sonepur Rosra Madan Kumar Jha 183

Dhatia Rosra Arun Kumar Singh 242

Dhatia Rosra Suman Pd. Singh 419

Dhatia Rosra Bidhushekhar Pd. Singh 543

Ramgarh Bibhutipur Govind Narayan Singh 325

Ramgarh Bibhutipur Indushekhar Narayan Singh 470

Ramgarh Bibhutipur Vinod Narayan Singh 487

Barheta Kalayanpur Ramchandra Dev 9931927397 500

Shambhupatti Samastipur Ripunjay Singh 9430242456 405

83


3. Vaishali

Village Blocks Farmers Contact Number Number of Plants

Katarmala Garaul Narendra Pandey 9947391028 500

Katarmala Garaul Jagganath Pandey 9934779907 400

Adampur Garaul Ashok Kumar Chaudhary 9931291611 700

Islampur Garaul Ramchandra Singh 250

Islampur Garaul Raghunath Singh 9955686867 130

Parmanandpur Lalganj Ramchandra Pd. Singh 9934211501 350

Bhagwanpur Bhagwanpur Harendra Kumar 9931659492 240

Bhagwanpur Bhagwanpur Ravindra Kumar 200

Harbanshpur Bhagwanpur Puroshottam Kumar 06224-245044 125

Harpur Kasturi Bhagwanpur Ramanand Singh 9835054323 120

Warispur Bhagwanpur Jagdish Prasad 0612-22383153 750

Manganpur Bhagwanpur Prabhat Kumar Singh 330

Warispur Bhagwanpur Krishna Kumar Singh 9835627789 700

84


4. East Champaran

Village Blocks Farmers Contact Number

Samadpurs (South) Mahesi Md. Kasim 9831777141

Salempur North Mahesi Umakant Saran

Salempur North Mahesi Mahendra Ray

Katha (West) Mahesi Virendra Kumar Virendra 9431466801

Katha (West) Mahesi Madan Mohan Prasad 06257-254592

Katha (East) Mahesi Nand Kishore Prasad 9504227950

Chapra gabil Mahesi 9431658126

Chapra gabil Mahesi Md. Ataul Rehman 9431410157

Bathna Mahesi Madan Bhagat 9939691189

Katha Mahesi Shyam Sunder Prasad 9431665637

Bathna Mahesi Ram Bhagat 9973655462

Kasba Mahesi sarai Mahesi Md. Badruddin Ansari 9934294341

Kasba Mahesi Chowk bazaar

Mahesi Sri Ashok Kumar 9431638189

Kasba Mahesi Chowk bazaar

Mahesi Sanjay Kumar 9771131832

Kasba Mahesi sarai Mahesi Mote urn Rehman 9931209848

Chakalalu Pipra kothi Javed Ahmad 9955057887

Saungia (East) Madhuban Sri Shyamnandan Prasad 9431204381

Madan Sirsia Kalyanpur Nath Singh

Siwan Kalyanpur Md. Umar Abdullah

Baragivind Chakia Shayam Kumar 9955545294

Chakia Chakia Deep Narayan Pd.

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Appendix II: Questionnaire for Field Survey

1. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR ORCHARD OWNER

1. LOCATION INFORMATION LFkkuh; lwpukLFkkuh; lwpukLFkkuh; lwpukLFkkuh; lwpuk

Name of the Village xkWao dk ukexkWao dk ukexkWao dk ukexkWao dk uke

Name of the Block CykWd dk ukeCykWd dk ukeCykWd dk ukeCykWd dk uke

Name of the District ftys dk ukeftys dk ukeftys dk ukeftys dk uke

2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION i`"BHkwfe lwpuki`"BHkwfe lwpuki`"BHkwfe lwpuki`"BHkwfe lwpuk 2.1 Name of the Orchard Owner, address and phone number ckx ekfyd dk uke] irk vkSj eksckbZy uEcjckx ekfyd dk uke] irk vkSj eksckbZy uEcjckx ekfyd dk uke] irk vkSj eksckbZy uEcjckx ekfyd dk uke] irk vkSj eksckbZy uEcj

2.5 Total agriculture land area dqy [ksrh okyh tehu dqy [ksrh okyh tehu dqy [ksrh okyh tehu dqy [ksrh okyh tehu ________ Bigha ch?kkch?kkch?kkch?kk/

2.6 Total area under Litchi cultivation dqy [ksrh okyh tehu ftlesa yhph mxkrs gSadqy [ksrh okyh tehu ftlesa yhph mxkrs gSadqy [ksrh okyh tehu ftlesa yhph mxkrs gSadqy [ksrh okyh tehu ftlesa yhph mxkrs gSa ________ Bigha ch?kkch?kkch?kkch?kk/

3. ORCHARD INFORMATION (3 YEAR HISTORY) ckx dh fiNys 3 lkyksa dh lwpukckx dh fiNys 3 lkyksa dh lwpukckx dh fiNys 3 lkyksa dh lwpukckx dh fiNys 3 lkyksa dh lwpuk Harvest Year

2006 2007 2008

3.1 Total Area under Litchi Harvest (in Bigha) dqy [ksrh okyh tehu ftlesa yhph mxkbZ Fkh dqy [ksrh okyh tehu ftlesa yhph mxkbZ Fkh dqy [ksrh okyh tehu ftlesa yhph mxkbZ Fkh dqy [ksrh okyh tehu ftlesa yhph mxkbZ Fkh (ch?kk esach?kk esach?kk esach?kk esa)

3.2 Total number of Litchi Plants under harvesting dqy yhph ds isM+dqy yhph ds isM+dqy yhph ds isM+dqy yhph ds isM+

3.3 Total quantity of Litchi produced (in quintals) dqy yhph dh iSnkokj ek=k fDoUVy esadqy yhph dh iSnkokj ek=k fDoUVy esadqy yhph dh iSnkokj ek=k fDoUVy esadqy yhph dh iSnkokj ek=k fDoUVy esa

3.4 Total quantity of litchi produced by variety (in Quintals) yhph dh fdLeksa ds vuqlkj dqy iSnkoyhph dh fdLeksa ds vuqlkj dqy iSnkoyhph dh fdLeksa ds vuqlkj dqy iSnkoyhph dh fdLeksa ds vuqlkj dqy iSnkokj fDoUVy esakj fDoUVy esakj fDoUVy esakj fDoUVy esa

Shahi 'kkgh'kkgh'kkgh'kkgh

China pkbukpkbukpkbukpkbuk

Other (vU;vU;vU;vU;) ______

3.5 Litchi price received per quintal yhph dh feyh dher izfr fDoUVyyhph dh feyh dher izfr fDoUVyyhph dh feyh dher izfr fDoUVyyhph dh feyh dher izfr fDoUVy

Shahi 'kkgh'kkgh'kkgh'kkgh

China pkbukpkbukpkbukpkbuk

Other (vU;vU;vU;vU;) ______

3.6 Total number of new plants planted dqy u;s ikS/ks yxdqy u;s ikS/ks yxdqy u;s ikS/ks yxdqy u;s ikS/ks yxk;sk;sk;sk;s

3.7 Total number of plants that stopped producing fruits dqy ,sls isM+ ftUgksaus Qy nsuk cUn dj fn;kdqy ,sls isM+ ftUgksaus Qy nsuk cUn dj fn;kdqy ,sls isM+ ftUgksaus Qy nsuk cUn dj fn;kdqy ,sls isM+ ftUgksaus Qy nsuk cUn dj fn;k

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4. CURRENT STATUS OF THE ORCHARD ckx dh orZeku fLFkfrckx dh orZeku fLFkfrckx dh orZeku fLFkfrckx dh orZeku fLFkfr 4. 1 Total number of plants by age isM+ dh mezisM+ dh mezisM+ dh mezisM+ dh mez No. of plants dqy isM+dqy isM+dqy isM+dqy isM+ Average Expected yield per plant (in Kgs)

vkSlr yhph izfr isM+ fdxzk esavkSlr yhph izfr isM+ fdxzk esavkSlr yhph izfr isM+ fdxzk esavkSlr yhph izfr isM+ fdxzk esa Shahi

'kkgh'kkgh'kkgh'kkgh China

pkbukpkbukpkbukpkbuk Other

vU;vU;vU;vU;

Shahi

'kkgh'kkgh'kkgh'kkgh China

pkbukpkbukpkbukpkbuk Other

vU;vU;vU;vU;

< 4 years

4 – 7 years

8 – 12 years

13-17 years

17-21 years

21+ years

Total (years)

4.2 Yield in 2009 harvest (in quintals) :Shahi = __ China = __ Others = __ quintals o"kZ 2009 esa yhph dh vuqekfur iSnkokjo"kZ 2009 esa yhph dh vuqekfur iSnkokjo"kZ 2009 esa yhph dh vuqekfur iSnkokjo"kZ 2009 esa yhph dh vuqekfur iSnkokj 'kkgh'kkgh'kkgh'kkgh pkbukpkbukpkbukpkbuk vU;vU;vU;vU;

4.3 Expected litchi prices in 2009 harvest (Rs. Per quintal) = Shahi = __ China = __ Others = __ quintals o"kZ 2009 esa yhph dk vuqekfur nke #i;s izfr fDoUVy 'kkgh pkbuko"kZ 2009 esa yhph dk vuqekfur nke #i;s izfr fDoUVy 'kkgh pkbuko"kZ 2009 esa yhph dk vuqekfur nke #i;s izfr fDoUVy 'kkgh pkbuko"kZ 2009 esa yhph dk vuqekfur nke #i;s izfr fDoUVy 'kkgh pkbuk vU;vU;vU;vU; 4.4. Litchi Production in Last 3 years (Q):

5. INFORMATION ON OTHER ORCHARDS vU; ckxksa ds ckjs esa tkudkjhvU; ckxksa ds ckjs esa tkudkjhvU; ckxksa ds ckjs esa tkudkjhvU; ckxksa ds ckjs esa tkudkjh

5.1 According to you how many orchards are currently harvesting Litchi in your block? vkids vuqlkj vkids CykWd esa dqy fdrus ckxksa esa vHkh yhph mxkbZ tk jghs gSvkids vuqlkj vkids CykWd esa dqy fdrus ckxksa esa vHkh yhph mxkbZ tk jghs gSvkids vuqlkj vkids CykWd esa dqy fdrus ckxksa esa vHkh yhph mxkbZ tk jghs gSvkids vuqlkj vkids CykWd esa dqy fdrus ckxksa esa vHkh yhph mxkbZ tk jghs gS\\\\

Orchard Size ckx dk ukickx dk ukickx dk ukickx dk uki

No. of Orchards ckxksa dh la[;kckxksa dh la[;kckxksa dh la[;kckxksa dh la[;k

<1 Acre

1 -3 Acre

3-10 Acre

10+ Acre

Name of Investigator: Signature: ANY OTHER INFORMATION SHARED BY THE RESPONDENT

_______________________________________________________________________

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2. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR LITCHI TRADERS

1. LOCATION INFORMATION LFkkuh; lwpukLFkkuh; lwpukLFkkuh; lwpukLFkkuh; lwpuk

Questionnaire Code

Name of the Block CykWd dk ukeCykWd dk ukeCykWd dk ukeCykWd dk uke Block Code: CykWd dksM+CykWd dksM+CykWd dksM+CykWd dksM+

Name of the District ftys dk ukeftys dk ukeftys dk ukeftys dk uke District Code: ftyk dksM+ftyk dksM+ftyk dksM+ftyk dksM+

2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION i`"BHkwfe lwpuki`"BHkwfe lwpuki`"BHkwfe lwpuki`"BHkwfe lwpuk 2.1 Name of the Trader, address and phone number yhph fodzsrk dk uke] irk vkSj eksckbyhph fodzsrk dk uke] irk vkSj eksckbyhph fodzsrk dk uke] irk vkSj eksckbyhph fodzsrk dk uke] irk vkSj eksckbZy uEcjZy uEcjZy uEcjZy uEcj

2.2 Since when you are in this trade? vki dc ls bl O;olk; esa gSa vki dc ls bl O;olk; esa gSa vki dc ls bl O;olk; esa gSa vki dc ls bl O;olk; esa gSa

2.3 How much litchi did you trade in last harvest? fiNys ekSle esa vkius fdruh yhph dk O;olk; fd;k FkkfiNys ekSle esa vkius fdruh yhph dk O;olk; fd;k FkkfiNys ekSle esa vkius fdruh yhph dk O;olk; fd;k FkkfiNys ekSle esa vkius fdruh yhph dk O;olk; fd;k Fkk

________ Quintals/fDoUVyfDoUVyfDoUVyfDoUVy

2.4 How much litchi you expect to trade in this season? bl ekSle esa vki vUnkt fdruh yhph dk bl ekSle esa vki vUnkt fdruh yhph dk bl ekSle esa vki vUnkt fdruh yhph dk bl ekSle esa vki vUnkt fdruh yhph dk O;olk; dj ik;saxs O;olk; dj ik;saxs O;olk; dj ik;saxs O;olk; dj ik;saxs

________ Quintals/fDoUVyfDoUVyfDoUVyfDoUVy

3. MARKET INFORMATION:

3.1 Major Markets covered by traders

3.2 Marketing Cost incurred a. Transportation b. Packaging

d. Storage e. Labour charges e. Any other

3.3 How

3.4 Infrastructure facilities available

3.5 Other marketing issues

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Appendix III: Case Studies

E m ergence of L ocal M arkets: V aishali D istrict

Aggregation of Litchi happens at the Village level haats or Collection centers.

Most of these aggregation points are located conveniently on the road side

thereby easing the transportation of the produce and have evolved as trading

points in the last few years. Each local market handles about 80% of the

production from the surrounding clusters on a daily basis.

Local markets at Katarmal, Lalganj, Belsar, etc are few of the success stories in

this context. During Litchi season many traders from outside the state visit

these mandis and stay over for about fortnight to capitalize upon supply

abundance and price advantage. These markets see traders from both nearby

markets like Muzaffarpur, Hajipur and distant markets like Delhi, Eastern

region, etc. Farmers from nearby clusters bring their produce either in thelas or

mini vans.

These markets are active from 5 A.M are open round the clock as the window

period for the crop is short. Majority of the trade transactions happen in cash.

The sample produce is checked for quality aspects and the produce is auctioned

or sold in these markets after minimal price negotiation. The produce either

arrives in standard packaging (2 kg, 5 kg boxes) or in crates or boxes. These lots

are then repacked into crates/ boxes wherever required by the trader.

Depending upon the volume, it is transported to the destination either by trucks

or on Bus top.

This is a classic example of responsiveness of various players in the market to

economic incentives and that the accepted notions of behavior do not apply in

case of traditional agriculture within the framework of economic rationality.

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F arm M anagem ent: E ast Cham paran

In Mahesi village in East Champaran district IL&FS team talked to group of

framers to understand the package of practices adopted by the farmers. Most

of the farmers have leased out the orchards to pre-harvest contractors. They

have accepted the prevailing practice as a norm. However, one farmer stood

out in the crowd and tried to modify the arrangement to his advantage.

The farmer has about 500 trees orchard and manages his orchard by

employing an orchard manager who supervises the orchard in his absence.

He leased out his orchard like many other counter parts of his. However, the

orchard is jointly managed by him along with the PHC. The average yield in

his orchard is about 80-100 kgs per plant. While the PHC is responsible for

harvesting, sorting, grading and packaging of the produce, the farmer is

market savvy and has developed strong linkages with the traders in distant

markets. This helps him gather better information on demand and price

trends in the market. This enables him to negotiate better price with the

PHC. He also recognizes the role of PHC and agrees that associating with

PHC who has core competency in activities like harvesting, sorting,

packaging, transporting etc in a gainful manner has proved beneficial to him.

This case sets an example of how individual effort can gain out of the

synergies of various players who bring in their core competencies to a

common platform.

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