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Christmas meal: will there be lychees for the holidays?
Christmas meal: will there be lychees for the holidays? – (France 2)
Lychee is exported from Madagascar according to a precise schedule, despite the quality of the harvests. Exporters fear orders will decline if lychees cannot be delivered before Christmas.
The lychee is a tropical fruit that has made a region of Madagascar famous. At the end of the year, farmers begin to harvest the fruit. All the fruit must be harvested within a week and exported just before Christmas, when it is sold in France and Europe. This calendar is always the same, despite weather conditions and climate change, which worries farmers.
Exporters fear a drop in orders
If the harvest is disrupted, the entire production chain could be slowed down. Before going to sea, the lychees are treated with sulfur. The fruits leave from the port of Tamatave, where boats are loaded 24 hours a day. If the lychees cannot be delivered before Christmas, exporters fear that orders will decrease. “If we have very late seasons, importers can ask to receive fewer fruits to be sure of not having to destroy them”explains Benoît Leverrier, responsible for exporting Malagasy lychees.
