Everyone knows a maund is 40 kg. But Kansat mango market in Shibganj upazila of Chapainawabganj has changed that arithmetic. Here wholesalers (aratdars) buy mangoes counting 52 to 54 kg as one maund. They even pay farmers Tk 50–200 less when settling up, and mango growers are losing out.

People involved say the weight cannot be fixed at Kansat alone because the practice is in place at every mango market in Rajshahi division.

A visit to Kansat mango market on Tuesday afternoon, 13 June, found that three years ago mangoes were sold there at 45 kg to the maund. But the wholesalers keep raising the weight: in 2021 they took 50 kg to the maund, and since last year 52 kg. Sometimes they take 54 kg.

Robiul Awal, a grower from the Abbas Bazar area, had brought two vans of mangoes to sell. He told Jago News that mango traders at Kansat were held hostage by the aratdars, who take 52–54 kg to the maund. "We can't say anything. When weighing they will take an extra 700–800 grams on top of every full kilo. If we make trouble, they will pick out more than half the mangoes. After weighing they ask for another two or three kilos to eat, and say they won't pay if we refuse. Then when paying they give Tk 50–200 less."

A ward 4 member of Chakkirti union in Shibganj upazila, who had also come to sell mangoes, said: "I have sold mangoes at Kansat since 2000. From the start they took 1–2 kg extra for green mangoes. But for the past three years there has been robbery. The aratdars take 12–14 kg extra per maund. We have contacted many officials concerned, but to no avail."

He said the mango traders have an association, but the growers have none. "They pay money in many places to keep this going. But where do we go? Can anyone give 12–14 kg extra on a maund?"

Md Ashraful Islam of Babupur village in Shyampur union said: "Mango is a perishable product, so we used to sell at 45 kg to the maund. But three years ago the aratdars suddenly started taking 50–54 kg. They also behave very badly with us. We have become hostage to them."

Omar Faruk Tipu, general secretary of the Kansat Mango Aratdar Traders' Cooperative Society, said taking 52 kg to the maund was a kind of anarchy. The administration needs to decide on a single measure for all mango markets in Rajshahi division, he said; only then will the anarchy over weight be brought under control.

Shibganj upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Md Abul Hayat told Jago News: "We want mangoes to be bought and sold by one weight in every upazila of the district, but we cannot do it, because every mango market in Rajshahi division uses a different weight. If I set a rule of 40 kg to the maund only at Kansat, outside buyers will stop coming, and the growers will suffer. So we will decide after talking to senior divisional officials in Rajshahi."

Depending on quality, Khirsapat mangoes are now selling at the market for Tk 2,500 to Tk 3,500, Langra for Tk 1,500 to Tk 2,000, Lakkhanbhog for Tk 700 to Tk 900, and various guti mangoes for Tk 850 to Tk 1,500.

The district has 37,855 hectares of mango orchards this year, and the production target has been set at 4.25 lakh tonnes.

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