ISHS Acta Horticulturae 863: III International Symposium on Longan, Lychee, and other Fruit Trees in Sapindaceae Family
LYCHEE INDUSTRY IN PAKISTAN: POTENTIAL AND PROSPECTS |
| Authors: | I.A. Rajwana, A.U. Malik, A.S. Khan, R. Anwar |
| Keywords: | lychee, Pakistan, cultivation history, cultivars, harvesting season, prospects |
| DOI: | 10.17660/ActaHortic.2010.863.6 |
| Abstract:
Lychee, the queen of fruit is an emerging fruit crop of Pakistan. It was introduced here in early 1932 by Sardar Faqir Singh from Dera Dune, India, and remained an exotic plant until 1960s when commercial production started from few orchards located near Begum Kot, Lahore of Punjab province. Owing to its good fruit quality and profitability in early sixties, large scale plantations expanded to North West Frontier Province (NWFP) (Harri Pur, Hazara and Khan Pur) and later to Sindh (Tando Allah Yar, Nawab Shah, Moro, Mir Pur Khas) province. At present it is grown on an area of around 3000 acres with annual production of about 9250 MT. The main cultivars are Bedana, Calcutti, Dera Dune/Gola, Bombay, Chinese, Lychee Siah and Madrasi. Gola and Calcutti are two widely grown commercial cultivars, the former is consistent bearer while later shows alternate bearing habit. Nursery plants are propagated asexually through pot layering with 80% success rate. System of irrigation is surface flooding. Over 95% orchards are marketed through pre-harvest contractors. Fruits are mostly commercialized using mulberry baskets with 20-80 kg net weight. Harvesting season is well distributed and starts from May (Sindh) through June (Punjab) to July (NWFP province). Over 90% fruit is domestically consumed as fresh with little processing and negligible exports. Due to hot dry weather fruit skin cracking is the biggest issue in Southern Punjab. Main constraints for lychee production are: lack of quality nursery plants, long juvenile period (7-8 years), insufficient R&D based information for nutritional requirements, shortage of irrigation water and high postharvest losses. Potential of lychee remains under exploit so far, better production infra-structure and postharvest facilities are needed to boost industry for quality production and exports. This paper gives comprehensive information on Pakistan lychee industry, along with the potential and future prospects. | |
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