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Traders, farmers and agriculturalists are expecting to make a trade of Haribhanga mango worth Tk 200 crore in Rangpur this time facing production setbacks.
The harvesting of the mango began in the third week of this month in the district. The season will continue till July 15.
The traditional mango variety production has faced a severe setback this year due to drought situation, extreme heatwaves and frequent gusty winds along with little rainfall due to the impact of cyclone Remal.
Growers and traders remain busy plucking mangoes from the garden. Trading of the GI tags mango variety has begun in different markets of the district. Locals and inter-district buyers have been flocking to the markets. Vendors started selling the variety at different spots of the upazila and city.
The variety proves the best quality in the country and the taste is uncommon, which is far better than the variety mango of Rajshahi. The seasonal delicious fruit has created a revolutionary change strengthening the rural economy of the region for the last couple of years.
Growers remain busy nursing the trees intensively at the last minute in the orchards, especially in Mithapukur and Badargonj upazilas of the district.
The business of plastic and bamboo baskets, papers, rope and other materials has also been started in the local hat bazaars for packaging the mangoes. The price of the materials increased this year compared to the past years. A plastic crate is being sold at Tk 100 this year while it was sold at Tk 80 last year, said a trader, Abul Miah at the Central Bus terminal market of the city.
According to the DAE Rangpur, some 3,345 hectares of land were brought under mango cultivation in Rangpur, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari districts of the region this year. Of them, Harivhanga has been cultivated on some 1,910 hectares of land. Per hectares’ production target is set at 15.6 tonnes.
The total production would be around 30,000 tonnes while the farmers produced around 24,000 tonnes on some 1.865 hectares of land last year. The production target, however, could not be achieved following the highest temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius, frequenting gusty wind along with little rainfall due to the impact of cyclone Remal in April -May this year.
A good number of mango gardens flourished at Padaganj, Khoragas, Tekani, Zarullapur, and Lalpur Ghoragas Uttarpara and Mollatari under Mithapukur upazila and Gopalpur Kutubpur, Sardarpara, Mollahpara, Rostamabad, Lohanipara unions under Badargonj Upazila of the district.
Abdur Rahman, a mango grower in the Padaganj area under Badarganj Upazila of the district said plants in the orchards were filled with budding early this year. They hoped to get bumper output and huge benefits. Unfortunately, the drought-like situation and the extremely hot spell in the month of April-May have hit farming severely. Flowers and Green Mangoes have fallen from the trees sharply due to the inclement weather.
Arifin Islam, a grower cum trader, who developed a mango orchard on 25 acres of land at Akhirhat village under Mithapukur Upazila, said the number of green mangoes in the plants is less than the last year. Flowers wither away due to extreme heatwaves and drought. Green mangoes fell from the trees due to heat injury and recent gusty wind. We have sprayed the plants and irrigated the orchard to maintain a moderate temperature amid the extreme heat waves.
Mostafizur Rahman, another farmer cum trader at Moyenpur village of the upazila said, the mango production has got a severe setback in the districts this year. We started the harvesting from the garden on June 20. Mangoes size and numbers in the garden are small compared to last year.
He has spent Tk 3 lakh for mango farming on his 2.5 acres of land this year. The weather was not favourable for the expected production. A significant portion of flowers and green mangoes had withered away due to the repeated heat wave in the month of April-May. He is apprehensive to incur losses though the mango market has maintained high since the beginning of the season compared to last year. He got Tk 4 lakh profit spending the same amount last year.
Khorshed Alam, a trader at Padaganj, a wholesale mango market at Badargonj upazila said, the fruit’s price has been maintaining high since the advent of the season following the production shortfall. Per maund of mango is being sold at Tk 2,400-3,000 while it was only Tk 1,200- 1,500 last year.
A young entrepreneur and proprietor of an online mango supply agency, Srakar Majharul Mannan said, “We have been taking online orders to supply the variety elsewhere in the country since a few years back. We have initially received an order to supply 15 maund of the variety. We fixed the price at Tk 2,400-3,200 per maund based on mango size this year.”
“Packaging and transportation costs have risen and the production faced a severe setback this year due to drought-like situations and extreme heat waves. The size of the mango became smaller than usual. The price would increase further,” he added.
Deputy Director DAE Rangpur, Mohammad Riaz Uddin said, that considering the significance of the produce, the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute has researched the preservation of the mango. The variety has been acknowledged as the GI product.
