Agriculture experts have advised the farmers to complete the plantation of lychee saplings in their orchards in September and October.
The tasty fruit of lychee is grown on 295 hectares in Punjab and delivers 1,811 tonnes of production per annum at the rate of 50-80 kilogram (kg) production per plant, said a press release issued by media liaison unit of the Punjab Agriculture Department (PAD) on Wednesday. It said the lychee varieties including Bedana, Surahi, Gola and ‘Shui Tung’ are considered good for sowing.
“The lychee tree usually attains the height of 15-22 feet. The farmers should maintain the plant-to-plant distance at 8-10 metres. They should dig one cubic meter size ditches to plant a sapling and keep them open for 15-20 days,” it added. The release further said that the third portion of the dug out soil should be mixed with equal quantities of ‘Bhal’ and fertilisers made from leaf and this mixture be utilised to fill the ditch in a way that its surface be a bit higher than the field. Lychee can be grown on different types of land successfully, however, fertile land having capacity to retain moisture was best for its plant growth, it said.
“The lychee orchards can be grown successfully on areas around rivers Ravi and Sutlej and its plantation inside the mango orchards in Multan and Rahimyar Khan can also give good results. However, the lychee plant must not be planted under the shade of a mango tree and must have full exposure to sunlight,” it added.
PAD said that the lychee plants of the age of ten years should get fertilisers including 10 kg natural rotten fertilisers, 3-4 kg urea, 3 kg single super phosphate, and 2 kg potassium sulphate in December, adding that full quantity of potash and phosphorous be applied with traditional fertilisers in Dec-Jan in a way that it should be at least three feet away from each plant so that sensitive roots of the plants do not get hurt.
Light irrigation should be done soon after the fertiliser application to get good results, the release concluded.
Source: Daily Times