The ongoing heat wave condition and drought have posed a serious threat to the production of litchi, a mouth-watering summer fruit, in Pabna district. Pabna’s Iswardi upazila is known as one of the leading litchi production zones in the country. But this year, farmers and traders are fearing losses as small litchi pods are falling from the trees due to the prevailing heat wave. At the beginning of this season, litchi farmers had expected a bumper production of litchi but 50% of buds had fallen due to the heavy rains with hails in the middle of Chaitra (Bangla) month. On the other hand, due to the extreme heat at the beginning of summer, a large part of the litchi pods are now falling. If summer heat continues, the litchi farmers have to count a huge loss this year. High temperature, lack of rain threaten lucrative litchi production in Magura Besides, the wholesale traders who had bought the orchards with the sprouting of trees have become worried over possible losses this season. According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), this year, a total of 4,721 hectares of land have been brought under litchi cultivation and among these, 3,150 hectares are in Ishwardi upazila of the district. They also set a target to produce 48,801 metric tonnes of litchi this year. During a recent visit to some litchi orchards, the UNB correspondent found that at the beginning of the month of Falgun, there were enough buds coming in each litchi tree. Seeing a lot of buds on trees, the traders bought the orchards at a higher price in advance. But due to the ongoing drought and untimely rains with hailstorm at the end of Chaitra, most of the buds have been damaged. Mirajul Sheikh, a litchi grower of Ishwardi upazila, said about 40-50 percent litchi buds were destroyed during hailstorm but now a large portion of litchi pods are dropping due to the prevailing heat wave. Sonargaon litchi growers expecting bumper yield Manirul, a trader, said he had bought a litchi orchard at a cost of Tk 25 lakh but he is too frustrated. He is now doubtful whether he will be able to sell litchi worth Tk 10 lakh.Though the DAE officials suggested the farmers to spray water and continue irrigation but farmers said it is not possible to spray water in vast tract of land that was brought under litchi cultivation.However, the DAE officials are still expecting bumper production this year.Sheikh Mehedi, a litchi grower and trader, said the biggest economic activity of the farmers of Ishwardi upazila depends on litchi production. Farmers of the upazila will be severely affected if they don’t get expected output . Jamal Uddin, deputy director of Pabna DAE, said this year, litchi trees saw profuse flowering and if litchi comes from half of those it will be huge. However, some litchi are being damaged due to drought and the current heat wave. Farmers are being suggested to spray water on the upper side of the litchi trees and irrigate the lands, he added.Read more: Severe heatwave in Khulna: Day labourers forced to work in dangerous conditions

Lychees or litchis are one of the summer fruits everyone eagerly waits for in Bangladesh. This fruit is widely cultivated in the subtropical areas including Southeast Asia and China. Litchis are rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Litchi is popular for its wide range of health benefits. Litchis can help to improve heart health and may reduce risk of cancer and diabetes. It can fight against liver cancer. It can boost hair growth. This fruit is also good for skin. It is beneficial for chronic disease reduction.  Everyone loves the chewy, sweet taste of litchis. You can’t miss the short period of this seasonal fruit. Apart from eating fresh litchis, you can also try dessert recipes at home. Here, we offer 7 litchi dessert recipes that you must try before this summer ends. 7 Mouthwatering Litchi Dessert Recipes Litchi Popsicles Ingredients 500 grams litchi, 125 gram vanilla ice cream, 1 tablespoon sugar, 2 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon rosewater, and rose petal (optional).  Process First of all put all the ingredients including litchi, ice cream, sugar, lemon juice and rose water in a blender. Start blending from low speed and gradually increasing to medium speed. Keep blending until it becomes smooth without forming any bubbles. Taste the drink and adjust sweetness to your liking. Then pour the liquid into the popsicle molds. Keep stirring continuously while transferring the mix. After that insert the sticks into the mold and freeze it for 7-8 hours or better overnight. Bring the pop molds out from the freeze. Now, your tasty popsicles are ready!  Read more: 10 Best Mango Breakfast Recipes to Start Your Day Litchi Sorbet Ingredients 500 grams fresh litchis, 100 grams icing sugar, 1 ½  cup water and ½  lime (juiced) Process First wash the litchis and remove the seeds. Then start with litchi flesh, sugar and water. Put them all in a pan and wait for boiling. Keep stirring to ensure that the sugar dissolves completely. After boiling the mix well, wait for it to be cool.  After cooling, blend the syrup, litchi and lime juice altogether in a food processor. Keep blending until the combination reaches the desired consistency. You can sieve it if you prefer a smoother texture or just leave it like that.  Now, freeze the mix. When it gets solid, break them into smaller pieces and churn it for another 5-10 minutes. Freeze it again. Now, delicious litchi sorbet is ready to be enjoyed.  Read more: Health benefits of floral teas: 10 blends you can try Litchi Ice Cream Ingredients 2 cups fresh litchi, ½ cup cream, ¾ cup condensed milk, 1 cup  milk, 4 egg yolks, ½ cup sugar and one pinch salt.  Process Begin with preparing the litchis. Wash them thoroughly, peel and separate the flesh from the seeds. Now blend the litchi flesh smoothly. Then pour the puree, and cream together in a bowl and give the mix a stir.  Place milk and condensed milk in a small saucepan and heat the combo gently at low temperature until it starts steaming. Next, take egg yolk, required amount of sugar, and a bit of salt in a separate bowl and whisk them. Now pour the milk mixture into this bowl. And stir continuously.  Heat the mixture at medium temperature until it reaches a perfect consistency. Continue stirring until the mixture coats the back of the spoon. Now, it's almost ready.  At this point, pour the litchi puree that was prepared before into this mixture. After that mix the whole combination well and then cool it down. To make ice cream the instructions of the ice cream maker need to be followed.  Without an ice cream maker, you can make it in the freezer. Place the custard in the freezer and after an hour bring it out. Give it a good whisking or blend. Put it back in the freezer. Repeat this for a few times until it reaches a creamy and soft consistency. Finally freeze it in an ice cream container and after a few hours enjoy your creamy, sweet litchi ice cream.  Read more: 5 Mouth-watering Mango Pickle Recipes to Cherish This Summer Litchi Mousse Ingredients 1 can litchi in syrup, 2 tablespoons icing sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons gelatin powder, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 2 teaspoons syrup from the lychee can, 150ml thickened cream and 1 egg white. Process For this recipe you may use canned litchi or fresh litchi as per choice.  In case of fresh litchi, make some litchi syrup by boiling lychee and sugar together nicely. While using canned litchi, first separate lychee and the syrup. Keep the syrup aside. Now blend the lychee into smooth puree. Mix lemon juice, and litchi syrup in a bowl. In this liquid add gelatin powder and place the bowl over hot water to dissolve the gelatin.   At this stage combine the litchi puree and gelatin mixture very well and leave it in the fridge. Then whip the cream and egg whites separately. Mix the whipped cream with the litchi mixture thoroughly. And gently fold in the whipped egg whites. Now serve this mouthwatering lychee mousse.  Read more: 10 Healthy Gluten-free Breakfast Recipes

Lychee (Litchi) is enriched with a good amount of Vitamin C, Vitamin B-complex, and phytonutrient flavonoids. It contains the excellent nutrient that is required for the production of blood. For the formation of RBC, we need manganese, magnesium, copper, iron, and folate and lychee is a great source of these. Lychee increases the metabolism of fat, protein, and carbohydrates. We are here with easy-to-prepare Lichi recipes for homemade drinks, snacks, and desserts with highly valued food items.  Seven Yummy and Nutritious Lychee Recipes to try at home Mango Litchi Desserts You can try mango Litchi Desserts which is a refreshing cold dessert with two favorite tropical fruits. You will definitely enjoy it during hot summer days. Just need 10 to 15 minutes to prepare.  Ingredients 500 GM Curd, 1 cup Fresh Cream, 2 tbsp sugar powder, 2 cups Frozen Mango Pieces, 1.2 cup sugar, 1.2 cup water, 1.4 cup litchi crush, 2 tbsp dry fruit crush, 1 cup mango pieces Instructions First, make sure to dispatch the water completely from the curd and then rest for 5 hours. After that add the fresh cream, and the sugar powder and beat to make a creamy texture. Blend the frozen mango pieces along with  ½ cup sugar and some water to make a smooth texture.  Put the mixture in the bowl and keep it aside. Mix the whipped cream mixture with the litchi crush and pour the litchi cream mixture into a glass and add the mango puree. For decoration, you can add mango pieces and dry fruit crust. Finally, it is ready to serve. Read: Rainy Day Homemade Snacks Ideas, Recipes to Enjoy with Family Lychee Blueberry Cupcakes If you are a fan of cupcakes, don’t miss the Lychee cupcakes. It would be a great delight for the kids also. Ingredients 12 fresh lychees, peeled & seeded, 125g unsalted butter, 3/4 cup caster sugar, 2 eggs, lightly beaten, ⅓ cup milk, 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted, ¼ cup blueberries Instructions First, preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a cupcake tin with 12 cases. Cut the fresh lychees into small pieces. Set aside. Then cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer for about 2-3 minutes to make them light, and fluffy.  After that, add the eggs to beat for a further minute. Add the flour and the milk and mix well. Finally, add the blueberries and chopped lychees. Pour cupcake batter into the prepared cases until ⅔ full. Bake for 20-25 minutes.  You can use a toothpick to test whether it is okay or not. If the toothpick remains dry, your cupcakes are ready to serve.  Read: Soybean Oil Substitutes: Some Healthier Options for Cooking, Baking Lychees in Vanilla Syrup Ingredients 1 cup of caster sugar, 2 cups of cold water, 50 fresh lychees, peeled and deseeded, vanilla bean Instructions First, heat 1 cup caster sugar and 2 cups water. Stir continuously so that sugar dissolves. When sugar mixes well make sure you increase the heat. Then and vanilla bean. Cook for 8-10 minutes until it becomes thickened.  Add the lychees. Cook for another few minutes. Finally, let it cool and detach the vanilla bean before serving.  Read 10 Grocery Shopping Apps in Bangladesh: An Overview Lychee Frozen Cheesecake Who doesn’t love cheesecake? The nutrition, flavour, taste and texture of your regular cheesecakes can be enhanced by adding Lychees. Ingredients 250g packet gingernut cookies, 60g unsalted butter, 250g pack fat cream cheese, 250g low-fat ricotta, 2/3 cup caster sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon rind, 250mls cream, 15 fresh lychees, extra lychees to serve, lemon zest, to serve Instructions First, prepare the base with the cookies and the melted butter. Then make a thick and smooth mixture with cream cheese, ricotta, sugar, and lemon rind, blending them for a couple of minutes. Pour the mixture into the tin over the biscuit base and smooth the surface. Cover and freeze for 2 hours. Finally, remove the tin from the freezer 15 minutes ahead of serving.  Read: 10 Healthy Midnight Snacks Recipes for Night Owls Lychee with Coconut Wafers Kids are always crazy for crunchy snacks like wafers. If you try Lychee with coconut wafers, it will win the souls of the adult members of your family too. Ingredients 2 cups shredded coconut, 2 egg whites, 1/3 cup plain flour, 1/3 cup caster sugar, 300g sour cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, 2 teaspoons icing sugar, sifted, 450g lychees, peeled. Instructions First, don’t forget to preheat the oven to 190C. Then mix the coconut, egg whites, flour, and caster sugar in a large bowl. Take baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper. Put spoonfuls of the mixture and make 8 thin discs 12 cm in diameter. Bake for 15-18 minutes to make them golden and crisp. Remove and let them cool.  In the meantime, mix together the sour cream, vanilla, and icing sugar in a small bowl. To decorate, place a coconut wafer on each plate, top with some sour cream mix, then some lychees. Repeat the layers and serve dusted with extra icing sugar. Read Delicious Watermelon Ice Cream and Cake Recipes to Try at Home Lychee Asian style fruit salad Ingredients 20 fresh lychees,  1 Nashi pear, 4 slices of fresh pineapple,  ½ small papaya, 1/4 honeydew melon,  2 firm-ripe mangoes Syrup 250 ml water, 75g caster sugar, 3 thin slices of ginger, peeled, ½ teaspoon cardamom seeds, Juice, and zest of 1 lime Instructions First, for preparing the syrup, heat the water and sugar in a small pan and cook until the sugar dissolves completely. Add the ginger and cardamom seeds and cook for 10 minutes. Let it cool and then add lime juice and zest. Put aside the syrup and in the meantime cut all fruits along with lychees into small pieces and mix them together. Drizzle over the cold syrup and serve.  Read: Yummy Bengali Seafood Recipes to Try at Home Thai Banana-Lychee Dessert in Coconut Milk Don’t miss this easy banana and lychee dessert that needs only ten minutes to make. Its taste is wonderfully sweet and complex. Asian people call it a "dessert soup". You can serve it warm or cold, depending on the weather and your mood.  Ingredients 2 small ripe bananas, 1 can coconut milk, 1/4 to 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1 pinch salt, 8 to 10 lychees Instructions First, peel the bananas and slice them into 2 inches long. Heat the coconut milk over medium-high heat. Then add the other ingredients except for lychees and banana and mix well. After that, add the bananas and lychees to the mixture. Make sure to continue stirring so that the bananas and lychees are warmed through. It may take  1 to 2 minutes. Serve warm or cold to your taste and mood.  Bottom Line Litchi is a nutritious tropical fruit. It has a mouthwatering sweet and sour taste. People of any age love eating ripe Litchis. You can also preserve Litchis in the refrigerator to eat in other seasons. So far we have discussed 7 delectable Litchi recipes to prepare desserts, snacks and drinks. Following these recipes you can get the taste and nutrition of the heavenly fruit Litchi with your adorable family. Read Savory Lassi: 7 Easy Recipes to Try at Home

Litchi growers in Sonargaon upazila of Narayanganj district are expecting a return to hefty profits this year, following two years of depressed business due to COVID-19, plus Ramadan coinciding with the very short window during which the seasonal fruit is harvested in the country. Litchi grown in Sonargaon litchi is highly coveted for its sweet and delicious taste.  Also read:Early harvesting of mangoes puts Satkhira farmers in trouble The upazila agriculture officials said this year some 100 acres of land have been brought under litchi production, shared between some 200 orchards.  Visiting some of these orchards, UNB witnessed trees full of green litchis.  However, the litchi traders said there would be a delay in bringing the litchi to market, due to drought. Every year, the litchi season starts at the end of winter and the farmers have a busy time nurturing their orchards by pouring organic fertilizer and water to ensure a good yield. Litchi buds start to sprout in the first month of March and within one month they start turning red. Some rain helps at that point to get a good yield.  The first litchis start hitting the local market in April. Three types of litchi—Chaina-3, Kodomi and Pati litchi-- are being grown in Sonargaon. Alamgir, a litchi grower of Hamsadi village in Badderbazar union, said “This year, a massive yield of litchi is expected due to the dry season and each orchard expects to to generate revenues of Tk 2 lakh.” Also read:Low price dims the joy of watermelon growers in Khulna despite bumper harvest Traders from different districts have come to Sonargaon and purchased litchi from the upazila.   Manira Akter, Sonargaon Upazila Agriculture officer, said “This year, the production of litchi is better than the previous year. We are working to boost the production of litchi. We are also providing advice to the litchi growers to increase their production commercially.” Three deputy assistant agriculture officers visited each union of the upazila and provided necessary advice to the farmers, including on spraying pesticides, watering on time and nurturing the trees, she said.

The arrival of the luscious fruit is a silver lining every summer -- both for the connoisseurs as well as the cultivators of litchi in Bangladesh. However, this litchi season could well turn out to be disappointing, at least for the fruit growers in Kushtia's Khoksha upazila because of something they had no control over -- high temperature and drought. Read Sunflower cultivation in Khulna: Salinity no longer a barrier A number of litchi farmers in the upazila's Gopgram, Satpakhia, Boroi Chara, Basoa, Daskahunia, Manikat villages told UNB that they had high hopes of a bumper crop this summer, a projection based on the healthy flowering of the fruit three-four months ago. But the cultivators said that unfavourable weather had shattered their hopes. They claimed it would be really difficult for them to recover even the production cost this year. Touhidur Rahman, the owner of a litchi farm in Gopgram, said, “A couple of years back, I brought around 20 bighas of land under litchi cultivation. Currently, there are 500 trees in my orchard. But high temperature and inadequate rains have prompted the damage of fruits." Also read: Bumper litchi yield brings smiles to B’baria farmers amid virus worry Last year, he pocketed Tk 3.5 lakh from the sales of litchi. "This year, I may not be able to even recover the production cost of Tk 20,000," the humble fruit grower said. Harez Ali, another grower, said, “I have taken an orchard in Dashkahunia village on lease for Tk 1.80 lakh. At first, I spotted fruits on the 68 litchi trees in the farm. But the unfavourable weather led to cracks on fruits and their subsequent dropping from trees." "I am staring at huge losses this year. The owner of the orchard is also reluctant to return the money," he added. Read Farmers in Bishwanath happy with Boro yield According to the District Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), 103 hectares of land were brought under litchi cultivation in Kushtia this year. Sabuj Kumar Shaha of Khoksha Upazila Agriculture Office, said, “Unfavourable weather may hit a handful of litchi growers in some villages this year, but the production of the fruit in other parts of the upazila is likely to exceed the target set by the authorities concerned.” Read Manirampur farmers making money by broccoli farming