Dinajpur has always been famous for lychees. In that lychee district, mangoes have produced a bumper crop this year despite adverse weather. But because Gourmati mangoes are somewhat expensive, local demand for them is low, and with no opportunity yet to export them, mango growers fear losses.

That is what two orchard owners in Birganj and Bochaganj said about Gourmati mangoes. Agriculture officials, however, say there is still a month in hand, and that even if the mangoes cannot be exported, they will be sold in markets around the country.

Instead of chasing a job after finishing his studies, young Zakiur Alam Zakir took up growing improved mango varieties. He started his orchard in 2016 with BARI-4 mangoes on one acre and, after succeeding, kept expanding. His orchard now covers 22 acres. Having started as a hobby, he now earns Tk 20 lakh to Tk 25 lakh a year from it.

Zakir's orchard is at Jater Danga in Purbabarsha village of No 2 Ishania union in Bochaganj upazila, Dinajpur. Of its 22 acres, the Gourmati orchard covers two and a half acres.

Zakir's orchard is full of mangoes for six months of the year, and 15 people work there all year round. On the 22 acres there are 1,600 BARI-4 trees, 850 Gourmati, 850 Katimon and 850 Banana Mango trees, and 550 trees of Amrapali and other varieties.

Zakiur Alam Zakir said: "After finishing my studies in 2016, I started as a hobby with BARI-4 mangoes on one acre. After I succeeded, I planted Gourmati, Banana Mango and Katimon seedlings. Gourmati mangoes are packaged, and these mangoes are free of poison. This year I have sold mangoes worth about Tk 15 lakh. Even though the market was worse than last year, sales were good. I hope Gourmati mangoes will sell for about Tk 15 lakh to Tk 20 lakh. But if I got commercial export facilities, selling would be easier."

He said demand in the country is low because Gourmati mangoes are expensive, so he is somewhat worried about selling Gourmati as well as Katimon and Banana Mango. In the local market, mangoes are selling at Tk 6,000 a maund, he said.

Bochaganj upazila agriculture officer Nayan Kumar Saha, an agriculturist, said they are giving the entrepreneur Zakiur Alam technical advice and support. He wants to export mangoes, and the Department of Agricultural Extension will give him the necessary technical advice and support for exporting mangoes in future, he said.

Meanwhile in Birganj upazila, Md Golam Mostafa of Dabra Jineshwari village in Maricha union grows Gourmati mangoes. His orchard has had a good crop despite the adverse weather, but there is little demand for Gourmati in the market, leaving him in difficulty. He is now trying to export.

Md Golam Mostafa said he planted 150 Gourmati seedlings on 75 decimals of land in 2017, and the trees began bearing heavily in 2022. This year the orchard has had a bumper crop. On the agriculture office's advice, 25,000 mangoes were bagged and tended for export to make them saleable. But so far the agriculture department has not been able to give him any news of exports. With no foreign buyer found, an estimated 200 maunds of mangoes are still hanging on the trees.

He said they are selling mangoes at Tk 8,000 a maund, but buyers are few. If the mangoes are not exported or marketed quickly, they may rot on the trees, he said, and called on the agriculture department to take swift action.

Orchard owner Alhaj Mokaram Hossain Palash of the same area said the same. Palash said that unless the government takes quick steps to export mangoes, Gourmati orchard owners not only in Dinajpur but across the country will be ruined. If the agriculture department now makes contacts at home and abroad to export or sell the mangoes, orchard owners will be able to protect their capital, he said.

Md Abu Sayeed Akand, sub-assistant agriculture officer in Birganj upazila, said 25,000 Gourmati mangoes had been bagged using an environment-friendly technique for export. The Gourmati variety starts ripening late, with the fruit staying on the tree from August to 15 September, so it fetches higher prices because of strong demand in the market. Each mango weighs 300 to 500 grams.

On exports, he said demand for mangoes at home and abroad is low this year because of the bumper crop, so no buyer has been found yet. But the agriculture department is continuing its efforts to export the mangoes and market them locally, he said.

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