BSS, Rajshahi
Mango harvesting of the current season is going to start on May 15 everywhere in Rajshahi district to make sure the fact of natural ripening of the seasonal delicious fruit, reports BSS.
To this end, district administration has issued a notice fixing the dates for harvesting different varieties of mangoes after holding a meeting with officials of all line departments virtually on Thursday.
The notice signed by Deputy Commissioner Abdul Jalil also asked the growers and others concerned not to harvest mango before the stipulated date. According to the administrative decision, the farmers can pluck local varieties from May 15 while harvest of Gopal Bhog mangoes will commence on May 20 and Laxmanbhog, Laukhna and Ranipasand varieties will start on May 25. The sweetest varieties of mango – like Khirsapat and Himsagar – will start coming to markets on May 28, while Langra will begin on June 6. Harvest of Fazli and Amrapali will start on June 15.
The notice also said Ashwina and BARI Mango-4 varieties can be harvested from July 10.
Talking to BSS on the issue, Deputy Commissioner Abdul Jalil said the district administration will remain vigilant against harvesting and marketing of immature mango. Law enforcing agencies and upazila administrations were already given instruction to this end.
He also said there will be adequate measures to make the transportation and marketing of mango successful.
Meanwhile, after meeting up the local demands, Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj districts, nationwide famous for mango production, have set the target to export 300 tonnes of mango to different European and Middle East countries during the forthcoming harvesting season.
To achieve the target, mangoes are being fruit bagged after the best use of modern technologies in the two districts at present. Apart from this, the best quality mangoes are being produced for export to foreign countries.
President of Rajshahi Agro Food Producer Society Anwarul Haque said mangoes produced in Rajshahi are being exported to various European and many other countries every year, which is good news for Rajshahi people.
All stakeholders including farmers must have to produce good quality mangoes maintaining its highest value, if they want to continue export of mangoes to Europe’s chain shops.
“We are trying to establish agro-based industries here for strengthening the economic condition through expanding trade and business,” he added.
Haque said mango farming in the fruit-bagging method has gradually been rising here for the last couple of years. If the mango is cultivated through this method there is no need of use of pesticide to prevent fruit-fly. As a result, mango remained in poison-free condition.
He said many farmers and value chain actors got the necessary training on best agricultural practices and with that, they started exploring the high-value export markets.
Haque added that the highest quantity of mango had been exported in 2016. Mango export is almost double profitable than that of selling in local markets. But additional cost and care is needed for preparing the exportable mango as it requires use of modern technologies.
Demands are high for mangoes produced through fruit bagging due to their purity from adulterants as it is a modern and environment-friendly method.
