Vol. 11, Special Issue 4 (2022)

Author(s):
Madhusudan Chaudhary and Dr. Ramchandra

Abstract:
Litchi (Litchi chinensis) is the most important sub-tropical fruit which originated in China about 3,000 years ago. India is the second largest producer of litchi in the world after China. Presently in India, litchi is cultivated in an area of about 74.40 thousand hectares with a total production of 483.60 thousand metric tonnes and productivity of 6.50 metric tonnes/ hectare. Bihar produces nearly 73.38 per cent of the total litchi of the country with 40 per cent of the area under cultivation. It is cultivated in an area of about 31.1 thousand hectares with a total production of 227 thousand metric tonnes and productivity of 7.3 metric tonnes/ hectare. It is mainly cultivated in the old districts of Muzaffarpur, Champaran and Darbhanga. In India, litchi maturity starts in the middle of May in the states of Tripura, West Bengal, Jharkhand; end of May and June in North Bihar, followed by the Northern Tarai region of Himalaya in Uttarakhand. Litchi is a non-climacteric fruit that possesses poor shelf life and results in very high postharvest losses. These studies were conducted to identify the various channels in Litchi marketing and assess the efficiency of each channel in the district Muzaffarpur of Bihar. Channel I: Producer – Pre - harvest contractor – Commission agent cum Wholesaler –Retailer – Consumer. Channel II: Producer – Retailer – Consumer. Channel IV: Producer – Consumer. The producer's share in consumer’s rupee in channel III is the highest since it is the shortest channel.