The picture of mango farming is changing in the Khagrachhari hills. Foreign mango varieties are becoming more popular by the day, as farmers use the favourable weather and fertile soil to grow them commercially. Because they sell for several times the price of local mangoes, interest is growing and farmers are earning well. With help from the agriculture department, this promising sector is expanding. But while production is rising, orchard owners see the extra cost of marketing as a major challenge.

A visit to Khagrachhari Sadar upazila found Mongshitu Chowdhury growing foreign mangoes. He left a government job to build a large orchard on about 30 acres, where alongside local varieties he grows American Palmer, Miyazaki, Banana Mango, Thailand's Chiang Mai, Kiujai, Red Lady, Apple Mango, Dokmai, Kensington Pride and other foreign varieties.

Mongshitu Chowdhury told Jagonews24 he started growing these mangoes commercially because foreign varieties fetch higher prices and profits than local ones. With market prices for foreign mangoes good at present, many farmers are becoming interested, he said, and the orchards have also created jobs for many local people.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), local and foreign mangoes are grown on more than 5,000 hectares in Khagrachhari this season. Because the crop is commercially profitable, farmers are being encouraged to grow foreign varieties and supplied with quality saplings.

Nasir Uddin, deputy director of the DAE in Khagrachhari, said foreign varieties are being grown alongside local mangoes. They fetch good prices and bear over a long period, so farmers are benefiting, and demand for foreign mangoes in the market is rising.

The agriculture department has set a target of 62,179 tonnes of mango production in Khagrachhari this season. Those involved hope that if the target is met, mangoes will make an important contribution to the district's economy.

Priyadarshi Chakma, a farmer in Dighinala, said foreign mangoes are in greater demand and fetch higher prices than local varieties, so he grew 12-15 foreign varieties in his orchard, and the yield was good this year.

Another farmer, Prasit Chakma, said: "Alongside local varieties I grew foreign mangoes as a hobby. Growing foreign varieties to suit market demand has been quite profitable."

But orchard owners face various problems in marketing after the harvest. They complain that when mangoes are transported from Khagrachhari to Dhaka, Chattogram, Feni and other districts, tolls must be paid at no fewer than four points, including the bazar fund, the zila parishad and the municipality. This raises transport costs, and traders are losing interest in buying mangoes.

Kalo Baran Chakma, convener of the Khagrachhari Fruit Orchard Owners' Association, said excessive tolls are being collected from mango orchard owners, so many traders are not coming to buy. If tolls were reduced, orchard owners would benefit and the mango market would expand further.

Abdullah Al Malek, scientific officer at the Hill Agricultural Research Station in Khagrachhari, said some farmers in the hill region are growing American Palmer, Miyazaki, Banana Mango, Thailand's Chiang Mai, Kiujai, Red Lady, Apple Mango, Dokmai and Kensington Pride alongside local varieties on their own initiative, and yields are good. But research findings on these varieties are needed before they are grown on a large scale.

Additional deputy commissioner Hasan Maruf said immediate action would be taken on any complaint of excess tolls or excess fares for transporting Khagrachhari's mangoes to other districts. The district administration and the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection are also regularly running mobile courts against such irregularities, he said.

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