After its tasty lychees, Dinajpur is now sending mangoes to England for the first time. The mangoes come from two orchards belonging to Mominul Islam in Darail village, Shahargram union, Biral upazila.

Agriculturist Md Nuruzzaman, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Dinajpur, announced the export to journalists at the DAE office on Wednesday afternoon (12 July).

He said 500kg of mangoes are being sent to a company in England called Lee Enterprise: 300kg of the BARI-4 variety and 200kg of banana mango. They are being sent from Dinajpur to Dhaka today, and will be flown from Dhaka to England.

Earlier, lychees from the orchard of Afzal Hossain in Chakbhabani village of the same upazila were sent to France. Now, after the lychees, Dinajpur's mangoes are set to win over England in Europe.

The Dinajpur agriculture department says that although Dinajpur is famous mainly for lychees, mango cultivation is gradually growing. Because Dinajpur's mangoes are of outstanding quality, the local agriculture department took the initiative to export them. Under the department's export-quality mango production project, it chose Mominul Islam's two orchards in Darail village. The orchards are tended naturally, without pesticide. A further 4 tonnes of Baromasi, late-variety banana mango and Katimon mangoes from four other orchards are also ready, and will be sent in stages according to the exporter's demand.

Orchard owner Mominul Islam said: "The mangoes from my orchard are crossing the country's borders for the first time. My mangoes are free of poison and safe. I hope the mangoes from my orchard will earn Bangladesh a good name abroad."

Biral upazila agriculture officer Mostafa Hasan Imam said lychees from Biral were exported to France a little while ago. Alongside lychees, mangoes are being produced on a large scale in Dinajpur, so steps have been taken to export mangoes as well.

DAE Dinajpur deputy director Md Nuruzzaman said such initiatives would contribute to the development of agriculture.

Reported by Emdadul Haque Milon.

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