Naogaon has already gained a good reputation in the country and abroad as the commercial capital of mango. Farmers, traders and exporters though are suffering huge economic losses due to lack of fruit and vegetable processing and packaging houses in Sapahar, Porsha, Patitla and Niamatpur upazilas.
Aminul Islam, a farmer from Jasai Dangapara village in Sapahar upazila, said, “We cultivate mangoes with great difficulty. But since there is no system for processing mangoes here, half of the mangoes are not priced. If there is a processing system, it is possible to send more mangoes abroad than the quantity that goes abroad. "We have lost crores of rupees due to mango syndication at different levels," he added. Several traders and mango growers said that the people of the area are being cheated of huge amount of money if they do not have fruit and vegetable processing and mango packaging house for exporting mangoes. There are also many types of harassment and will continue to be.
Exporter Akbar Hossain said that in order to send mangoes or vegetables to European countries, one has to pass a quality control test. Otherwise the exporter's product is not approved. It costs the exporters 1,500 euros to burn a product that fails a quality control test. At the same time goods and cargo are choked. The value of the country is undermined. The quality of the agriculture department is deteriorating. The effect lasts for about 5 years. This has cost farmers, traders and exporters a huge amount of money. Mango from Sapahar Upazila has gained immense popularity in European countries. To maintain this market, processing and setting up of Mango Packaging House is very much needed there. This will make it easier to export different types of fruits and vegetables. The new exporters will be saved from getting lost in the clutches of the dirty syndicate.
Sapahar Upazila Agriculture Officer Shapla Khatun said there is a big mango market in Sapahar. Mangoes are bought and sold in several upazilas there. The mango of this area has gained a good reputation in the country and abroad. Especially in the European market. To maintain this, a fruit and vegetable processing and packaging house needs to be set up. The matter has been reported to the concerned authorities. He further said that the target has been set to produce 12 lakh 9 thousand 500 tons or 32 lakh 37 thousand 500 mangoes for 14 tons in 9,250 hectares of land. Besides, different types of vegetables including potato, guava and plum are produced in the whole upazila.