Seedless litchee on the menu? scientists are making it happen
The seedless lychee species from south China’s Hainan Province
Litchee and longan experts at the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences have recently revealed that they have solved planting conundrums for unique lychee species that mainly grows in South China’s Hainan Province. What sets this species apart is that it has no seeds at all.
The news indicates that with an increase in production of these seedless litchees, the fruit delicacy is more likely to become a common sight at the dinner table.
Gao Zhaoyin, leading expert on the research team, said that there are two seedless litchee varieties – the A4 and Nandao – that are unique to China. Though the first seedless litchee was bred in 1997, planting and growing more remained a challenging task for scientists, which resulted in the public ignoring the new fruit due to its rarity and high prices.
Seedless litchees often come in pairs, with 24 pairs sold in cartons for nearly 600 yuan ($90).
The team has solved two main planting problems. The first was breeding varieties with more stable flower formation to better allow the formation of fruit. The second was altering the thickness of the fruit’s stem and skin, which prevents it from dropping too quickly from the tree after ripening.
Scientists at Rajendra Agriculture University, Pusa, have also been working on various superb Litchee varieties and achieved great success. The bedana variety mainly grown 8n Bihar and Jharkhand is nearly seedless.
“Adjusting the skin was like tailoring a new jacket for the fruit based on analyzing its growth characteristics and patterns. This helps increase production,” Gao noted. In the worst case scenario, “prematurely” fallen fruit can reduce a fruit orchard’s income by 90 percent.
Following the resolution of these planting issues, researchers have established a demonstration base in Chengmai county, Hainan Province, that focuses on nurturing seedless litchee. Currently, the price of the new fruit has dropped to around 100 yuan a kilogram.
Compared to standard litchee species, the seedless variety has a transparent pulp that tastes sweet with a slight hint of sourness. It also has a distinctive aroma with a touch of an alcohol scent.
The new variety needs another two years to become more common in the market. As production increases, local bases in Hainan will be increased and eventually production will be expanded to different provinces across the country.
Beside the seedless litchee, the team is undertaking a new research project for another litchee variety whose biggest selling point is its size and honey-like aroma.
The litchee agriculture has always been both China’s specialty and that of India, as more than 90 percent of the fruit sold across the globe is exported from these two countries. Besides Hainan Province, China’s Guangdong Province and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region are also considered the fruit’s “hometown.” And Lingshan county in Guangxi has been known for the fruit since the Tang Dynasty.
Similarly North Bihar in India ( the land of ancient Vaishali ) is major grower and exporter of world famous SHAHI variety of Litchee since the days of Nanda Empire. Another area of production is Dehradoon in the State of Uttarakhand.
The research support for varietal and production technology improvement is provided through the All India Coordinated Research Project on Sub-tropical Fruits, which has four centres located in litchee growing regions. The Central Horticultural Experimental Station Ranchi, Jharkhand, RAU, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar, G.B.Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Udhamsingh Nagar, Uttaranchal and BCKVV, Mohitnagar, Nadia, West Bengal are engaged in research.
The main thrust of research is on augmentation of germplasm, varietal evaluation, orchard management, propagation studies and development of fruit production technologies for higher yield and improved shelf-life. A network project for improving productivity of lychee has also been initiated. A National Research Centre on Litchee has been started for strategic and basic research on litchee.
The state Governments of Bihar, Jharkhand, Bengal, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh, and Uttaranchal also having programmes for the propagation of planting material to meet the requirements. Bihar has special focus on litchee development. In India Litchee is nowadays cultivated in over 60000 hectares.
The 24 pairs seedless lychee in carton
