Early sprouting signals bumper harvest in Rangpur region

Sprouting in Haribhanga mango trees begins in the mid of the Bengali month Magh, signaling bumper output of the popular fruit in Rangpur region this season, Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service officials said.

Officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said the mango trees in the orchards and homesteads have started wearing eye-catching yellowish looks with excellent sprouting amid favourable climatic conditions this year.

Farmers have already started taking care of their mango orchards with an expectation of getting excellent yield and more profits this time like in the previous years.

Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) for Rangpur Md Obaidur Rahman said farmers will have bumper harvest of the fruit if the sprouting is not affected by storm at the beginning of Baishak.

Mahafuzar Rhaman, who has an orchard on eight acres of lands at Sukurer hat village in Moyenpur union of Mithapukur upazila said most of the trees get budding in his orchard.

“We are applying vitamin spray in the trees to save the flowers,” he also said.

He added the village is almost filled with the mango orchard. The farmers who have high lands in the area, they at least have a small mango orchard as the farming proved lucrative.

Abdur Rhaman, a mango grower in Padaganj area under Badargonj upazila of the district said they are now taking care of the trees by spraying and applying medicines.

He also said Padaganj is the largest wholesale mango market in the region. Mangoes are usually exported elsewhere in the country and even at abroad. Traders and businessmen across the country come to the mango market every year.

He earned Tk 10,00,000 selling the mango from the orchard last year excluding all expenses.

RDRS Bangladesh Senior Coordinator Mamunur Rashid said the sprouting is not usually seen during this period. The sprouting is seen normally in the last week of February and it will continue till mid of the March.

The impact of global climate change might be a cause of such early blooming. Early blooming mangoes taste sweet and they are filled with fiber.

He also said the cultivation of Haribhanga mango is expanding on commercial basis every year in the region as the variety has got huge demand in the national and global markets. Mango growers would likely get bumper output this year if the weather remains favorable.

According to the DAE hundreds of farmers cultivated Haribhanga mango on 2,500 hectares of land in five districts – Rangpur, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari districts of the region last year fixing the target of 25,000 tonnes.

Horticulture specialist Khondoker Mesbahul Islam at DAE in Rangpur region said the farming is likely to exceed this year.