Sustainability within the Litchi Value Chain in Dinajpur, Bangladesh

Sustainability within the Litchi Value Chain in Dinajpur, Bangladesh | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Sustainability within the Litchi Value Chain in Dinajpur, Bangladesh Debasish Paul, Shreef Mahmood, Abdullah Al Mahmud, Leonoor Akkermans This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6312778/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 15 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Dinajpur, Bangladesh, is famous for its delicious sweet-savory litchi. The climate in this region is ideal for litchi production. However, the roles of stakeholders in the litchi industry and their impact on sustainability remain unclear. This investigation was designed to outline the sustainability of the litchi value chain. Data was collected in two methods. Firstly, the major stakeholders, i.e., grower, trader, researcher, and supporter were interviewed online. Secondly, an in-person survey was conducted at Auliapur, Dinajpur. In the chain, there are growers, Aratdar (conducts the auction), Pikar (wholesaler), retailers, and consumers. In this male-centric chain, litchi growers control 90.90% of the value share, while Pikar and retailers each account for 4.55%. Growers were affected by a 13.88–19.20% loss per 1000 litchi fruit and a 29.98–34.60% loss per 1000 Tk (€9.92). In the orchard, unregulated agrochemicals are affecting sustainability; however, accepting reusable plastic crates and using traditional bamboo baskets to support the local basket maker is helping the community. Litchi sustainability value chain value share postharvest loss Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 19 Jun, 2025 Reviews received at journal 11 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Jun, 2025 Reviews received at journal 07 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Jun, 2025 Reviews received at journal 23 May, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 10 May, 2025 Reviews received at journal 06 May, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 May, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 30 Apr, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 30 Apr, 2025 Editor invited by journal 11 Apr, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 10 Apr, 2025 First submitted to journal 10 Apr, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6312778","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":451060186,"identity":"e524802f-33b2-4506-b845-c26a5e5c68ff","order_by":0,"name":"Debasish Paul","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAuUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDCCA0D8gMcGymMjVkuCTBrJWmwOk6CF73bzM4mEnPN5/P1nDBg+lB0mrEXyzjEziYQzt4slbuQYMM44R4QWgxsJZhKJPbcTN0jwGDDzthGlJf2bROK/c4kb+M8YMP8lTksO0GE8BxI3MOQYMDMSo0XyzpliiwSe5MQZN9IKDvacSyeshe92+8YbH3jsEvv7D2988KPMmrAWBgkk9gEi1KNpGQWjYBSMglGAFQAA9m4+YdwMhQMAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"North Carolina State University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Debasish","middleName":"","lastName":"Paul","suffix":""},{"id":451060187,"identity":"29505557-7c2a-4ea8-a584-6e0c7aa7d5b1","order_by":1,"name":"Shreef Mahmood","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shreef","middleName":"","lastName":"Mahmood","suffix":""},{"id":451060188,"identity":"2841e97a-b6b5-4e76-b513-388768d6454c","order_by":2,"name":"Abdullah Al Mahmud","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Abdullah","middleName":"Al","lastName":"Mahmud","suffix":""},{"id":451060189,"identity":"c015608c-8fff-4f1e-8a58-6918b057eb0a","order_by":3,"name":"Leonoor Akkermans","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Leonoor","middleName":"","lastName":"Akkermans","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-03-26 13:23:23","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6312778/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6312778/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":81994494,"identity":"a5758136-455b-4224-b93e-a2b10de350b6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-05-05 17:28:23","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":824627,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"DPmanuscriptv.1.2.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6312778/v1_covered_3d9fd1f0-87d0-4752-925d-7c08dec43f75.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Sustainability within the Litchi Value Chain in Dinajpur, Bangladesh","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"discover-agriculture","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Agriculture](https://www.springer.com/journal/44279)","snPcode":"44279","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/44279/3","title":"Discover Agriculture","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Litchi, sustainability, value chain, value share, postharvest loss","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6312778/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6312778/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eDinajpur, Bangladesh, is famous for its delicious sweet-savory litchi. The climate in this region is ideal for litchi production. However, the roles of stakeholders in the litchi industry and their impact on sustainability remain unclear. This investigation was designed to outline the sustainability of the litchi value chain. Data was collected in two methods. Firstly, the major stakeholders, i.e., grower, trader, researcher, and supporter were interviewed online. Secondly, an in-person survey was conducted at Auliapur, Dinajpur. In the chain, there are growers, \u003cem\u003eAratdar\u003c/em\u003e (conducts the auction), \u003cem\u003ePikar\u003c/em\u003e (wholesaler), retailers, and consumers. In this male-centric chain, litchi growers control 90.90% of the value share, while \u003cem\u003ePikar\u003c/em\u003e and retailers each account for 4.55%. Growers were affected by a 13.88\u0026ndash;19.20% loss per 1000 litchi fruit and a 29.98\u0026ndash;34.60% loss per 1000 Tk (\u0026euro;9.92). In the orchard, unregulated agrochemicals are affecting sustainability; however, accepting reusable plastic crates and using traditional bamboo baskets to support the local basket maker is helping the community.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Sustainability within the Litchi Value Chain in Dinajpur, Bangladesh","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-05-05 16:56:17","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6312778/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-06-19T06:26:54+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-06-11T07:59:38+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"65784171399833829324513412551238895484","date":"2025-06-11T07:33:52+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-06-07T14:39:43+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"252942325842883516880882323831137848935","date":"2025-06-06T10:01:55+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"65900469284894248771603592267899305280","date":"2025-06-06T07:34:53+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-05-23T07:09:32+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"197049333313333909246204721702335818581","date":"2025-05-11T01:44:01+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-05-06T04:43:46+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"2985982163423747120162974249721589711","date":"2025-05-02T04:18:36+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-04-30T04:46:26+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-04-30T04:41:32+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-04-11T09:24:28+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-04-10T13:43:52+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Discover Agriculture","date":"2025-04-10T13:42:34+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"discover-agriculture","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Agriculture](https://www.springer.com/journal/44279)","snPcode":"44279","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/44279/3","title":"Discover Agriculture","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"4ab4246f-89fa-4587-86f9-2c84905f0b17","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 5th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-09-26T14:08:53+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-05-05 16:56:17","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6312778","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6312778","identity":"rs-6312778","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}