Mango picking has formally begun in Chuadanga. It was inaugurated at 10am on 14 May at the Mahaldar mango orchard in the Mohila College Para of Chuadanga municipality, organised by the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and the district administration.

Orchard owners started picking in the morning. Bombai, Guti and Anti mangoes are being brought down first, and Himsagar, Langra, Amrapali and other varieties will be picked in phases.

Chuadanga Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Aminul Islam Khan said marketing in Chuadanga had begun that day with the picking of Anti, Guti and Bombai mangoes. The district's mangoes are very tasty and valued across the country, so no chemicals may be used to ripen or preserve them, he said. If mangoes are ripened illegally, appropriate action will be taken under the Consumer Rights Protection Act and the Safe Food Act. "We want Chuadanga's mangoes to meet the district's and the country's demand and also be exported," he said.

The deputy commissioner said harvesting would begin in phases: Himsagar from 22 May, Langra from 25 May, Amrapali (BARI Aam-3) from 5 June, Fazli from 21 June and Ashwina BARI-4 from 1 July.

Bibhas Chandra Saha, deputy director of the DAE in Chuadanga, said commercial picking from the trees had begun in phases. Nobody may pick immature mangoes outside the harvesting schedule set for the district, and legal action will be taken against anyone who breaks it, he said.

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