Crisis-ridden mango farmers

Mango is the most popular fruit in the country. People of all ages are fond of mango, and it is so popular that from time memorial mango has been heavily featured in the works of leading poets and artists.

Bangladesh has a good number of mango varieties which are unique in taste and are adored by mango lovers across the world.

Mango is produced almost in all the corners of the country, but Rajshahi division is considered the mango hub of the country in terms of the area under mango cultivation as well as the quantity and quality of the fruit.

Thousands of people in this district and adjacent areas are dependent on mango trading and cultivation. This year mango production was not up to the mark and supply was lower than demand resulting in surge in mango prices.

But for the mango farmers, this was not bad after all. They are getting high prices for their products. Many unemployed young people have already started selling mangoes through online portals and social media platforms. 

So, all was on track during the first half of the current mango season from June to mid-July.  Farmers were happy and the varieties like Gopalbhog, Himsagar, Langra, which were harvested in this period enjoyed a good business.

But with the starting of blockade and curfew, the second half of the mango season stretching from mid-July to mid-August, has become a nightmare for thousands of mango farmers.

According to reports, due to the collapse in the supply chain, the mango prices fell by 30 to 40 per cent. It is assumed that the farmers in Chapai-nawabganj district alone would face a loss of over Taka one thousand crore.

Usually, local traders collected mangoes of Fazli, Amrapali, Ashini and Bari varieties from mango orchards in this period and sold those to the wholesalers.  But due to the blockade and curfew the wholesalers have been absent from the markets. As a result,   the local traders, too, did not go to the mango orchards.

The fall in demand caused huge price-fall. For example, the average price of top grade Amrapali varieties during this period last year was TK 4 thousand per maund. Naturally, the average price for the same quality of mango should not be less than that. But due to lack of buyers the farmers had to sell the same type of Amrapali at a price of TK 2500 per maund.

The price of Fazli was TK 3500 per maund in the second week of July this year but now farmers in Rajshahi and Chapai Nawabganj area are selling it at TK1500 per maund. The online based sales are totally stopped due to the absence of internet connections. The mango exports are also put on hold for an indefinite period.

So, thousands of farmers have to face huge loss posing serious threat to their livelihoods.

Like other fruits, mangoes are a perishable item and one cannot keep those in one's orchard or store it in home for more than a week. Though mango transportation was exempted from curfew, there are no buyers at the orchards. Under these circumstances, the government should take necessary measures to make up for the losses the mango farmers suffered.

China has shown interest in importing mangoes from Bangladesh this year on test case basis but the current situation posed uncertainty about that move also.

It was said that a team of Chinese experts would visit Bangladesh for assessing the feasibility of importing mango from Bangladesh this July. Naturally, that becomes uncertain for now.

It is expected that the authorities would come up with a solution to resolve such crisis in the future.  One such solution can be setting up of storage systems in those areas so that mangoes can be preserved for a longer period.

But the poor mango farmers who incurred huge financial loss must be provided with some sort of support by the government to protect their livelihoods.

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