Our Correspondent
Tezpur: The second day of the ongoing Tezpur Litchi Festival 2026 witnessed a major milestone as one tonne of GI-tagged Tezpur litchis was formally flagged off for exports to Dubai. The export consignment was inaugurated at the festival venue located at the Tezpur District Library premises by Tezpur MLA Prithiraj Rava and Sonitpur District Commissioner Ananda Kumar Das in the presence of officials from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and the Agriculture Department.
The export initiative, facilitated by APEDA, marks another major step towards expanding the international market for Tezpur’s renowned litchis. Officials said that the export process will continue over the next three days, with additional consignments likely to be shipped to countries such as Singapore and Thailand.
Earlier in the day, even before the formal inauguration of the festival’s second-day programmes, visitors from different parts of Assam and tourists from Bengaluru, Chennai, West Bengal, Kerala and other states thronged the exhibition and sales stalls to relish the unique taste of Tezpur litchis.
A key attraction of this year’s festival has been the display and sale of innovative litchi-based processed food products. Litchi biscuits, ice cream, shakes, honey and chips, developed through modern food-processing techniques, drew considerable attention and appreciation from visitors. Organisers reported an overwhelming response to these products since the opening day.
To explore the commercial potential of value-added litchi products, a special technical session on “Food Technology and Litchi” was organised in collaboration with the Food Engineering Department at Tezpur University. The session was chaired by Dr Poonam Mishra, Head of the Department, and featured expert presentations by professors Dr Swami Ranjan Purohit and Dr Rahul Kumar.
The experts highlighted the immense scope for developing sustainable food-processing industries based on litchi. They emphasized that beyond seasonal consumption as a fresh fruit, lychee can be transformed into a range of commercially viable products, creating new opportunities for local entrepreneurs and farmers.
A separate discussion organised with the support of NABARD focused on strengthening litchi cultivation and marketing. NABARD Deputy General Manager Suman Chatterjee outlined various training programmes and support mechanisms provided to farmers, encouraging them to enhance production and adopt modern cultivation practices.
Entrepreneur Biswajit Saikia, Assistant Secretary of the Tezpur Litchi Festival Celebration Committee and a pioneer in litchi-based food processing, informed visitors about the growing popularity of value-added litchi products. He stated that products such as litchi biscuits, ice cream and shakes, introduced on a trial basis at the Spring Valley restaurant in collaboration with noted entrepreneur Hemanta Lahkar, have received encouraging customer feedback.
The festival also hosted a virtual interaction linked to an APEDA-organised national discussion from New Delhi, in which MLA Prithiraj Rava and District Commissioner Ananda Kumar Das participated from the festival venue.
Speaking to the media after flagging off the Dubai-bound consignment, both the MLA and the district commissioner described the export initiative as a landmark achievement for Tezpur’s litchi growers. They expressed confidence that the international marketing of Tezpur litchis would widen opportunities for farmers and further strengthen the identity and success of the Tezpur Litchi Festival.
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