In view of the demands of the mango farmers in Satkhira, the date of mango collection has been changed and the process of mango collection has officially started from Friday.
Additional Deputy Commissioner Sheikh Moinul Islam Moin inaugurated the collection of local varieties of mangoes including Gopalbhog and Gobindbhog on Friday morning at a mango orchard in Kukhrali of Satkhira Sadar Upazila a week ago due to ripening of mangoes and storms.
Meanwhile, although the production is good, the farmers are not happy with the fixed date of mango collection. They complained that even though Satkhira's mangoes ripened earlier, they were badly affected as the administrative officials fixed the dates for breaking the mangoes. However, in view of the demands of the farmers, the district administration has brought forward the date of sowing of mangoes from seven days to 18 days.
According to the information of District Agriculture Extension Directorate, there are 5 thousand 3 hundred mango orchards on 4 thousand 1 hundred and 15 hectares of land. The production target has been fixed at 45 thousand tons. Out of this Himsagar mango production target is 1555 tons.
On the other hand, due to favorable soil and climate, the mangoes of Satkhira can be marketed earlier than other places. Mango tastes good too. Due to these reasons, the demand for Satkhira mangoes is huge in the country and abroad. However, Satkhira mango farmers and traders could not catch the market in different parts of the country due to the late planting date of Satkhira mangoes.
In this regard, Moksed Ali, a mango grower and businessman of Parkukhrali area, said that being a coastal area, the mangoes of Satkhira ripen earlier. But the mango collection date was 12 May. Whereas mango harvesting has started in sub-districts like Rajshahi on May 4. Mango collection has started from Friday. But in 2/4 days no dealer will come here. They know that mangoes will be sold from May 12.
He also said that even if the collection of Govindbhog and Gopalbhog mangoes starts today, we will not get more than 1800 to 2000 taka. It will not increase our production cost.
Abdul Awal, a mango farmer of Mathureshpur area of Sadar Upazila, said that the price of the necessary materials for mango cultivation has doubled, including the labor cost. But the price of mangoes is the same as it was 10 years ago. Apart from this, due to the delayed mango collection date, we will not be able to catch the mango market. All in all, we are huge losers.
Sadar Upazila Agriculture Officer Monir Hossain said that mango production is good in Satkhira. A few days ago there were no natural disasters except for a storm in Kalbaisakhi. Mangoes will be exported abroad this year as well. Our target is to send 200 tons of mangoes to foreign markets.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Satkhira Sheikh Moinul Islam Moin said that the date of mango planting was decided after discussing with the Agriculture Department. Later, in view of the reality, the date of mango laying has been brought forward.
He said Himsagar mangoes can be collected on May 10 instead of May 25. Langra variety mangoes should be harvested on May 18 instead of June 1 and Amrapali variety mangoes should be harvested on May 28 instead of June 15.
Mentioning that Satkhira's mangoes will go abroad again this time, he also said that mangoes have been exported abroad every year since 2014 except in 2020 and 2021 due to Corona. Due to the good yield of mangoes in the current season, the export target is 200 tons.
In this regard, Mostafizur Rahman, program officer of the export company Solidarity Network Asia, said that Satkhira mangoes are in high demand in the European market. We will send 20 tons of mangoes to France and Germany this year. We will start shipping mangoes in a few weeks.