Chapainawabganj's sweet mangoes are prized all over the country. Mangoes are already being traded in other districts, but trading has not yet begun in this one. Still, work to build and repair mango arots (wholesale depots) is in full swing at Kansat, the country's largest mango market. Agricultural marketing officials expect mangoes to start reaching the market after the first week of June.

A visit to Kansat found that although trading has not started, arot owners are preparing in advance. Some are building new arots, while others are busy tidying their old ones. Most are being built with corrugated tin roofs.

Arot owners said the work is done every year and this year is no exception. Because of the weather, mangoes are ripening a little late this year, but trading will begin very soon. They say business will be good because yields are lower than last year.

Shariful Islam of the Shyampur-Babupur area of Shibganj has been in the mango trade for about 15 years. He said mangoes have started to ripen in some orchards, which is why arots are being repaired now, and the Kansat market will soon be full of mangoes.

He added that mango production has now risen in other districts too, so arots are being built there as well.

Another arot owner, Mamun Ali, told Jago News that he did several crore taka of mango business at his arot last year, and his income met expectations. As the building went unused for a long time, parts of the tin had developed holes, so he is repairing it.

He said the mangoes here are the best of all, which is why mangoes from other areas are being sold in various parts of the country as Chapainawabganj mangoes. But mangoes from the Kansat area have not yet reached the market, though they soon will.

A worker named Mukta Mia said houses for Kansat arots are being built and repaired, and many have almost finished. Now they are only waiting for mangoes to arrive, and within a few days the Kansat mango market will be bustling.

Omar Faruk Tipu, general secretary of the Kansat Mango Arotdar Traders' Cooperative Society, said trading has not yet begun but traders are preparing, and it will start very soon.

District Agricultural Marketing Officer Mokabber Alam Naim told Jago News that Chapainawabganj's mangoes may come to market after the first week of June. Yields are lower than last time, so mango prices may rise.

This year mangoes are being grown on 37,604 hectares in Chapainawabganj district. The production target has been set at about four and a half lakh tonnes, about 25,000 tonnes more than last year.

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