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Excellent fruit setting predicts bumper mango production in Rajshahi

BSS . Rajshahi
01 Apr 2023 00:00:00 | Update: 31 Mar 2023 22:40:14
Excellent fruit setting predicts bumper mango production in Rajshahi

Mango fruit setting is going on smoothly amid favourable climatic conditions predicting record production of the most popular juicy fruit in the region, particularly Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj districts.

The fruit setting stage is progressing well and the mango trees have started wearing eye-catching looks in the orchards, gardens and homestead areas.

Dr Shafiqul Islam, Principal Scientific Officer of Fruit Research Station (FRS), hoped for a bumper mango production following massive blooms if the climatic conditions, fluctuations in temperatures, rainfalls, and attack by pests and insects remain normal for the next few months.

Mango, delicious seasonal fruit and a source of huge earnings especially in the northwestern region dominate the economy in Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj districts.

Dr Islam said over 65 to 75 per cent of mango trees have bloomed abundantly during this season on average and farmers are contacting the officials and experts to take extensive care for better growth of the tender mangoes.

If the extent of seasonal nor'westers remains within tolerable limits, there is a huge possibility of achieving record production of all varieties of mangoes this season, the expert predicted.

On behalf of the FRS and Regional Horticulture Research Centre (RHRC), many of the grassroots mango farmers were imparted training to yield a maximum output with safe production after the best uses of modern technologies, Dr Shafique added.

Dr Mukhlesur Rahman, Principal Scientific Officer of RHRC said the farmers have been showing more interest in mango farming in recent years to increase its production and get huge profits in achieving their economic well-being everywhere.

He said the weather so far is favourable for mango cultivation this season as the soil retained enough water due to sufficient rain in the last monsoon.

The trees got enough nutrition as many farmers cultivated mangoes beside vegetable farming lands, he added.

Dr Rahman said Chapainawabganj still has the highest amount of land covered by mango orchards, but Naogaon saw a one-and-a-half-time increase in its mango farm acreage annually over the last 10 years, according to the latest official data given by the DAE.

The area covered by mango orchards in Naogaon increased by 14,925 hectares in the period; while the increase was 9,520 hectares in Chapainawabganj.

Mango farming is not only increasing, but it is changing as well. Instead of creating mango orchards for a hundred years or more, farmers are targeting only 10 years.

Normally 10 mango trees are planted in one bigha of land, but in the new farming method, farmers can plant up to 200 trees in the same space, said Md Nuruzzaman, a mango grower of Porsha upazila of Naogaon.

The growth of mango orchards is the highest in two Naogaon upazilas- Porsha and Sapahar. They have 72 per cent of the orchards of the district, says DAE.

 

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