An unexpectedly long spell of heat wave in Bihar had affected the appearance and taste of summer fruits like litchis and mangoes in the month of June. Litchi and mango quality and yield of the fruits were affected due to the rising temperatures during the harvest season.
Thousands of farmers in the state had been forced to irrigate their orchards daily and spray water on trees loaded with litchi twice a day to reduce the impact of scorching sun and hot winds. But small farmers were finding it difficult to bear the water tanks expenses to save their produce.
Heatwave conditions first affected Shahi litchi, a unique variety from Muzaffarpur, in the last week of May and early June. But rising temperatures had been damaging China, another popular variety of litchi, too.