Mango blossoms have begun to appear in Dinajpur in the winter month of Magh. The whole district is filled with the scent of the golden blossoms, and growers hope for a good mango harvest this year.

According to the district agriculture office and local sources, mangoes are grown on 5,800 hectares in the district. If the weather stays favourable there is a chance of a bumper crop. The district's mangoes are exported abroad because of their taste. However, this year's target for the district has not yet been set.

The district grows Gopalbhog, Mishribhog, Fazli, Himsagar, Langra, Amrapali, Nag Fazli, Banana and Katimon mangoes.

Mango growers say Dinajpur's mangoes are valued in different parts of the country. Because the crop is profitable, mango farming in the district grows every year. Barring a natural disaster, Dinajpur will again have a record mango yield this year.

On the ground, blossoms were seen starting to appear on mango trees in orchards, homesteads and courtyards across the district. The area has begun to fill with the hum of bees among the blossoms and the sound of crickets.

Pabitra Kumar Roy, a mango grower in Mukundapur village of Kaharol upazila, said trees must be tended before the blossoms appear. Regular spraying and irrigation have started. This year the blossoms have come a little early. As soon as the trees began to blossom, mango traders from Dhaka, Rangpur, Chattogram and elsewhere started arriving, going from orchard to orchard for information, and many are buying orchards in advance.

A farmer named Ruhul Amin said his trees are 12 to 15 years old and have blossomed early for the past two years. They are a local "guti" variety. "Seeing early blossom again this year makes me happy. If the blossoms survive, there will be a bumper crop," he said.

He added that dense fog risks rotting the blossoms, but this year sunshine has been appearing along with the dense fog.

Blossoms have also appeared on a mango tree in a temple compound at Modern Mor in Dinajpur town. Khokon, a computer trader at the municipal market under the tree, said it has been blossoming early for the past two or three years, and has blossomed heavily again this year.

Md Anisuzzaman, additional deputy director (crops) of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Dinajpur, said the blossoms have begun appearing ahead of the usual time mainly because of the weather and the variety.

He said some mango trees blossom early every year, and they have started to do so again. If they are not caught by dense fog, these trees give an early crop; if the weather is unfavourable, there is no yield. However, blossoms that appear in the regular way at the end of Magh will last.

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