Mangoes unlikely to see high production

Growth in mango production may not be seen this year due to weather and a huge number of old trees in most of the mango producing districts, farmers and officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension say.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension, the country produced 25 lakh tonnes of mango in the Fiscal Year 2020-21. Of them, 9.48 lakh tonnes were produced in three districts - Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi and Naogaon.

Officials of the DAE of these three districts said they had observed some factors which might reduce the volume of mango production.

There was a consistent rainfall from October 16 to October 21 last year which hampered the production process, Uttam Kumar Kabiraj, Additional Deputy Director of the DAE, Rajshahi, told The Business Post.

He said 84 millimeter rainfall was recorded during this period. However, the soil must have begun to dry from late November to late January for the trees to come into bud in full swing.

Soil infiltration rate is low in this area due to soil structure. That is why roots, especially of old trees, have remained wet at the time of budding.

“Due to soggy soil the number of buds is 30 percent less than the previous year, he added.

Rajshahi produced 2, 17,128 tonnes of mango last year with per hector yield of 12.10 tonnes. Of them, 90 percent was Laxkhanvog variety.

The district has 25 percent old trees aged over 50 years. Old tree produces less fruit. Moreover this year the number of buds is fewer. All those factors may reduce the production, Md Nazrul Islam, Deputy Director of the DAE of Chapainawabganj said.

Farmers harvested mango from late May to late September last year. For this reason, some trees have come into bud late this year. Of them, some were again affected by fog, he said.

Himsagor is the most produced variety in Chapainawabganj followed by Fajli, Langra and Ashini. The district produced 3, 82, 118 tonnes of mango last year with 11 tonnes in per hectare land.

DAE Deputy Director, Naogaon, Md Shamsul Wadud also said the number of buds was less this year. Moreover, some mango buds were affected by draught later.

Last year, the district produced 348, 975 tonnes of mango, the second highest in the country, with 13.5 tonnes in per hector of land. Ashini and Bari-4 are the main varieties of the district.

However, the mangoes are healthy this year and that has given farmers a ray of hope, said officials. Farmers also assume that this year will not see a good yield of mangoes.

There was rain before the start of budding and after the trees had budded many of them were destroyed due to cold wind sweeping across the district for quite a long time, said Md Nasim Uddin, a big farmer who has a big mango orchard on 20 acres of land.

Last year the highest 11,29,927 tonnes of mango were produced in Rajshahi division followed by 3, 45, 327 tonnes in Khulna,2,78,331tonnes in Dhaka, 2,66,397 tonnes in Chittagong,2,64,631 tonnes in Rangpur, 1,02,367 in Mymensing, 64,362 in Barishal and 49, 229 tonnes in Sylhet division.

A total of 25, 00,570 tonnes of mango was produced in 198,578 hectares of land across the country in FY2021 which was24, 68, 050 tonnes in1, 89,850 hectares in the FY2020.

A total of 22, 28, 972 tonnes mango was produced in 1, 88,836 hectares in FY2019 which was less than 23, 72, 216 tonnes produced in 1, 92,202 hectares in FY2018.

A total of 21, 43, 443 tonnes of mango was produced in 174, 208 hectares of land in FY2017.