There is no longer any need to wait for the season for mangoes. Off-season Katimon mangoes have filled the markets of Dinajpur, something once unimaginable, and they are grown in the district itself.

The yellow, long, fairly large and tasty mango is selling at Tk 320 a kg. Despite the high price, demand from buyers eager to taste the off-season fruit is quite good.

On 29 September, Katimon mangoes were seen on sale at fruit shops at various junctions in Dinajpur town and by mobile fruit vendors.

Jamir Uddin, who came to buy fruit at the Bahadur Bazar junction, said: "I came to buy fruit for my family and saw the mangoes. They are quite big and look very nice, and I heard they are very sweet, so I wanted to buy them. But the price is very high, Tk 320 a kg. Even so, I bought half a kilo."

Sohel Rana, another buyer at the municipality junction, said: "I saw Katimon mangoes in the market for the first time today. The price is very high, so I couldn't buy them even though I wanted to."

Fruit seller Md Helal Hossain said Katimon mango cultivation has begun in Sadar, Bochaganj and Birganj in Dinajpur, and mangoes from those orchards are coming to market. "I brought some from the Basherhat orchard in Sadar upazila, buying at Tk 270 a kg. On top of that there is transport, shortage, and mangoes getting spotted or spoiled. Counting everything, I am selling at Tk 300-320 a kg," he said.

"My brother and I brought four maunds of mangoes and most of it has sold. Demand is huge. Because the mango is tasty and sweet, buyers are buying, and those who buy once come looking again. Many order by mobile phone and we deliver to their homes," he said.

Another fruit seller, Faruk Hossain, said he set out in the morning with one maund of mangoes and sold out by about 3pm.

Zakir Hossain, a mango grower in Bochaganj, said: "There is demand for Katimon mangoes. Wholesalers are buying them. I am selling at up to Tk 200-230 a kg. Now people can eat mangoes all year round. No one ever imagined before that mangoes would be available in the market even in the month of Ashwin."

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