Sapahar mangoes to reach global markets: Sadhan

Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder has said the present government has been working relentlessly for reaching the mangoes being immensely produced in Sapahar upazila of the district to the global markets.

He said once upon a time the Sapahar area remained barren but now huge amount of mangoes are being produced there and Sapahar has turned into a large mango market.

Time has come to do branding of the tasty mangoes.

The food minister made the observation while addressing a mass-awareness workshop styled “Mango Production, Harvesting, Ripening, Transporting and Marketing in Safe Way” in Naogaon on Friday as the chief guest.

Bangladesh Safe Food Authority (BSFA) hosted the workshop at Sapahar Upazila Parishad conference hall largely attended by officials of line departments, development activists, business leaders, mango farmers and other stakeholders.

Capacity building project of Bangladesh Food Safety Authority project supported the workshop.

BSFA Chairman Kaiyum Sarker, Member Rezaul Karim, Project Director Monzur Murshed Ahmed and Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension Shamsul Wadud also spoke with Upazila Nirbahi Officer Abdullah Al Mamun in the chair.

Dr Alim Uddin, principal scientific officer of the Regional Fruit Research Station, gave an illustration on the issue during his keynote presentation.

He told the meeting that modern technologies are being promoted commercially in mango orchards here during the pre-harvest season to protect mangoes from pest attack, enabling the farmers to get better yield.

Food Minister Sadhan Majumder urged the growers to produce mango safely after the best use of the knowledge acquired from the workshop so that their produced mangoes are appropriated for exporting.

Kaiyum Sarker mentioned that modern technologies need to be promoted commercially in mango orchards in the region during the harvesting season for facilitating the farmers to get quality and better yield and its price.