It has rained in Chapainawabganj after a long time, bringing relief to mango growers. The rain began at 9am on Thursday, 22 February.

Although it was not heavy, the agriculture department says the rain is a blessing for mangoes. Growers, however, say it may damage some of the mango blossom.

Asmaul Islam, a mango grower in Islampur union of Sadar upazila, said the sky had been cloudy since the night before and the rain started suddenly in the morning. Some blossom would be damaged, he said, but overall it had helped, because growers were spared the cost of irrigation and would not need to water their orchards. The blossom had not grown very large yet, so the damage would not be much.

Ahsan Habib, member secretary of the Chapainawabganj Mango Foundation, said people of earlier times used to say that rain in the month of Falgun means fire. This rain would damage some blossom, he said, but it would save growers irrigation costs and benefit other crops too. The blossoms that had already opened would suffer some damage.

Ismail Khan Shamim, general secretary of the Shibganj Mango Producer Co-operative Society, said Falgun rain does some harm to mango blossom, but not this time, because the blossom is still very small. The rain would help somewhat, he said, but a spray is now needed.

KM Kawsar Hossain, additional deputy director (crops) of the DAE in Chapainawabganj, said the blossom was still small and would not be harmed. Instead, the rain had helped growers of various crops and would save mango growers irrigation costs. "But yes, some mango blossom will be damaged. The amount will be very small," he said.

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