Mango trading in final stage in northern districts

RAJSHAHI, Aug 07 (BSS): Mango trading in Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj districts is now on the final stage amid last moment's exorbitant price of the tasty and delicious seasonal fruit after more than two and half months long brisk business.

Excepting a few places like Seroil Bus Termnal and Shaheb Bazar areas, most of the businessmen including the amateur ones have rounded up their business.

Fazli mango, one of the major late varieties and also king of mango, is now being sold at Tk 90 to Tk 120 per kg according to size and quality while Aswina is being sold at Tk 70 to Tk 80 per kg.

Mango of the two districts is conventionally late ripening and the growers can also preserve their fruits on trees for long so the farmers and businessmen get higher price.

Every year, acreage, number of trees and mango production is mounting. However, unfortunately, not a single mango-processing plant has been established here hindering expansion of mango market volume.

This year, safe and hygienic mangos were sold abundantly throughout the season by dint of administrative measures and collective efforts of both government and non-government organisations concerned.

Local administration had imposed ban on harvesting immature mango prohibiting artificially ripening of immature mango through mixing harmful chemicals and marketing those frequently.

The Regional Horticulture Research Center (RHRC) in Chapainawabganj and Rajshahi Fruit Research Center carried out vigorous campaigns and programmes against the uses of unethical chemicals with mango.

Mango is the leading seasonal cash crop of the region and dominates the economy in the two districts famous for the delicious fruit. So, there is no alternative to make the growers and others concerned habituated in maintaining hygienic condition and other best practices from production to marketing, mango researchers opined.

Principal Scientific Officer of Fruit Research Station Dr Alim Uddin said there are about 3.0 million mango trees of different ages and varieties on some 32,816 hectares in the region with creation of many more new mango orchards and increased mango farming in the homesteads in recent years.

Meanwhile, chemical-free mangoes produced in the district have started making inroad into Europe's chain shops with 25.23 tonnes of the fruit have so far been exported to eight countries from Bagha upazila during the current harvesting season.

The mangoes were exported from June 06 to July 11 last with joint initiative of Hortex Foundation and Bagha Upazila Agriculture Office through World Food Organisation.

Upazila Agriculture Officer Sabina Begum told the news agency that 50 owners of mango orchards were imparted training on safe and chemical-free mango production through best agriculture management.

In the current season, 25.23 tonnes of mangoes were collected from 11 of the trained growers and those were exported to England, The Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Portugal, France, Russia and Italy.

Through the agriculture management, the growers produced mango free from harmful chemical ranging from 200 to 300 grams weight each and exported for the third consecutive time.

Ashrafuddawla of village Kaligram and Mohsin Ali of Arpara village, two leading mango growers, said they exported mango this year like the previous two years with close supervision of upazila agriculture office.