Chapainawabganj is known around the world for its mangoes. But this year the trees blossomed less. Even with that little blossom, growers still held a faint hope. Then the recent Chaitra rain knocked off the mango blossom, so not enough fruitlets have set, and some trees have put out new leaves instead.

People involved say the district's mango production could fall to half of last year's, hurting the district's economy and shrinking foreign currency earnings.

The agriculture department has set a target of producing 4,50,000 tonnes of mangoes in the district this year, 25,000 tonnes more than last year.

But the picture in the field is completely different. Growers say production will fall to half of last year's because 60-65 percent of trees have no fruitlets this time.

Emdadul Haque works at a primary school in Shibganj upazila. "Our family has been in the mango business. My grandfather and father both traded mangoes, and I have continued it for 15 years. But after losing money for the past 4-5 years, my capital is almost gone," he said.

He added: "Last year nearly all my trees blossomed and there were mangoes, but I did not get much of a price. This year the trees have much less blossom. On top of that, it rained heavily a few days ago and all the fruitlets and blossom rotted. Looking at most of the mango trees now, it seems not a single mango will grow. I am worried."

Abdul Mannan, a resident of Israil Mor in Shibganj, said: "This year I have mango orchards of various varieties on about 6 bighas. The blossom that came earlier has some mangoes, but the blossom that opened later has not a single fruitlet. It has all rotted."

Isarul Islam, a mango grower in Sadar upazila, said: "My household runs on mango money, but this time my trees have no mangoes. The rain has spoiled everything. I wanted to be smiling at Eid, but seeing the orchard has left me sad. I am worried about how I will pay for the pesticide."

The sweetest mangoes in the country are grown in Shibganj upazila. Raisuddin Amal of Shyampur union there has been growing mangoes for about 20 years. "I have lost money on mangoes before, but looking at the orchard this time, I think the loss will be bigger, because I cannot see any mangoes in it," he said.

He added: "I have a Gopalbhog mango tree that gives about 25-30 maunds every year. This year too it blossomed heavily, but no mangoes set, because it rained while the blossom was opening, and all of it rotted."

Ahsan Habib, member secretary of the Chapainawabganj Mango Foundation, said: "Shibganj produces the most mangoes in the district, but this year the state of the mangoes in Shibganj is very bad. There is doubt whether our growers will even recover the cost of pesticide from selling mangoes." He added that disease was also higher in the orchards this year, and it was making the fruitlets drop.

Ismail Hossain Shamim Khan, general secretary of the Shibganj Mango Producer Co-operative Society, said the cold was far more severe this year and the climate has changed, which is mainly why there is less blossom. The rain also did great damage to the blossom.

"Hostile weather is a threat to mangoes. We were worried from the moment the first blossom came. There is no relying on blossom that comes late. The latest rain knocked off the blossom, so there are mangoes on hardly any trees in our upazila. I hope 40 percent of trees in the district may bear mangoes," he said.

Palash Sarkar, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Chapainawabganj, said: "Since the trees blossomed heavily last year, this year can be called an off season. But because of the cold, blossom was low, especially on big trees. On top of that, there was dense fog and excessive rain a few days ago, which did great damage to the mangoes."

He added: "The adverse weather this year will not bring anything good for mangoes. There are more natural hazards ahead, such as nor'westers (kalbaishakhi) and hailstorms. If they come, mango production will fall further. All in all, the mango production we had hoped for may not happen this year."

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