Program and Abstracts, 3rd International Symposium on Longan, Lychee and Other Fruit Trees in Sapindaceae Family, August 25-29, 2008, Fuzhou, China. 132 pages.
2008
บทคัดย่อ
Litchi production in Thailand
In Thailand, there are two groups of litchi cultivars, Lowland and upland litchis. The lowland cultivars, grown in the central region, require moderately low temperature for flowering. Khom is an important cultivar of this group. The upland cultivars, grown in the northern region, require lower temperatures for flowering. The major cultivar of upland group is Hong Huay. In 2007, the total area of bearing trees was 27,325 ha with the total production of 73,858 MT or average of 2.7 MT/ha. The main plantation is in the northern region with 85.9% of total area. Approximately, 55% of litchi production was sold on domestic markets and more than 40% was exported to China, Malaysia and the USA. In 2006, Thailand exported fresh and canned litchi with 22,651 MT worth US$ 19.9 million. At present, using potassium chlorate and paclobutrazol for off-season flowering is unsuccessful. Flowering usually commences in January to February and period of harvesting starts from late April in the central region to mid May in the north region. The main constraints for production include a pronounced alternate bearing behavior, sunbúrn and fruit cracking. The litchi fruit borer, longan stink bug, erinose mite and fruit rot are major pests and diseases.