Costly Miyazaki mangoes have grown on the land of a mosque in ward 11 of Dubrajpur municipality in Birbhum, West Bengal. Japan's Miyazaki is among the most expensive mango varieties in the world, priced at two and a half to three lakh rupees a kg.

At first the mosque authorities did not realise it was an expensive variety. When they found out, it caused a stir. The tree has borne 10 to 12 mangoes in all, and the mosque committee decided to auction them.

At the auction on Friday, 2 June, one mango fetched 10,600 rupees (Tk 14,000). It was bought by a local businessman, Popin.

Popin said: "I bought the mango for 10,600 rupees at auction to help the mosque financially. This mango sells for more than one lakh rupees on the international market. I want to buy a sapling from here."

The mosque authorities have decided that the rupees raised by auctioning the mangoes will be used to develop the mosque, and the process will continue in the coming years.

The mosque's imam, Mohammad Rafiq Uddin Khan, said: "At first we did not know this was such an expensive mango tree. The mangoes were green at first, then purple, and finally turned red when ripe. They look completely different from other mangoes. We learnt from social media that it is a Miyazaki mango. It is rarely found and very expensive. But this is an area of poor people, so we decided to auction one mango."

Mosque committee president Kazi Abu Taleb said a boy from the neighbourhood had planted the tree, and he is no longer with them. "We have decided to use the auction money for the mosque's development," he said.

The mango has a remarkable aroma and tastes sweeter than sugar, with almost no fibre. People of Birbhum will get the chance to taste this tree-ripened Miyazaki mango.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.