Two or four mango trees by the pond or behind the house. The patter of a mango or two falling on the tin roof. Children racing like a storm to gather them. Everyone should remember such a childhood. Perhaps it was this memory that led the poet Jasimuddin to write "the joy of gathering mangoes at my uncle's house on a stormy day". Yet even within this happy memory there is a hint that mangoes were not as plentiful as they are today.

Just 20 years ago no one could have imagined that Bangladesh would rank ninth in the world in mango production, or that it would join the list of mango-exporting countries. The reality is that Bangladesh now exports mangoes, to 28 countries; another figure puts it at 34 countries. The journey is not very old either: the first mangoes were exported from Bangladesh in 2015. Bangladesh has advanced so fast in mango production that England, Japan and several European countries have shown interest in importing its mangoes.

Once, Dhaka's markets had local sweet-and-sour mangoes and, late in the season, Fazli. The sweet-and-sour ones often had worms inside, and some were too sour to eat. But as a juicy seasonal fruit the mango still caught poets' attention. Demand was high and supply low, so mangoes cost more then than now.

The talent and effort of our agricultural scientists and the tireless work of mango growers have given Bangladesh a place of honour. Its mangoes now meet domestic demand and are also exported. Production has reached 27 lakh metric tonnes on 27,466 hectares. The scientists' success is visible: one new variety after another reaches the market thanks to them, and yields have risen for the same reason. Yet despite higher yields, farmers are not smiling as they should, because production exceeds market demand and they are not getting the prices they hoped for.

Meanwhile, the country has not yet qualified for the world market. According to published reports, foreign interest in Bangladeshi mangoes is low because exported mangoes are not of world-standard quality. The main reason is a lack of coordination between local farmers and the government authorities concerned. The authorities are thought to pay as much attention to raising output as they neglect quality and marketing. Along with new varieties and higher output, more attention must go to marketing, quality, better storage and assessing foreign buyers' demand.

This year's harvest is better than last year's, and prices are much lower. At wholesale markets near the growing areas, mangoes that used to sell for Tk 60-70 a kg at the start of the season have fallen to Tk 30-40. By the time they reach other parts of the country the price may be Tk 80-100 a kg. Consumers are happy, but producers count losses. Farmers work hard to grow mangoes but know little about modern, scientific production and marketing, which is natural, so foreign buyers' requirements remain unknown to grassroots farmers.

Close government support for maintaining quality is not beyond question either, and the dominance of middlemen in marketing cannot be ignored. Farmers sell mangoes from the orchard to faria traders, who send them across the country. Only a small share of exporters buy directly from orchards, mainly to save on transport costs. The writer sees this as the main obstacle to Bangladeshi mangoes entering the world market.

Once mangoes reach Badamtoli or Jatrabari in Dhaka, wholesalers' main concern is keeping them from rotting, so various chemicals are mixed in. Chemicals are also used during cultivation. Pesticides and other sprays are needed during production, but if they are still active when the fruit reaches the consumer, buyers will certainly not be attracted. Because this is never given importance in Bangladesh, there is no way to tell how safe the mangoes in the market are.

Our farmers cannot be expected to understand this, and how far those who do understand it supervise remains an open question. The main point is that Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) is not followed in Bangladesh, which is why mango exports are not growing as hoped. If GAP were followed, exports would rise sharply. Some estimates suggest Bangladesh already has the capacity to export mangoes worth around Tk 2,000 crore. There are other obstacles to mango exports too, and little importance seems to be given to removing them.

People abroad know little about Bangladeshi mangoes. Alongside quality, attention must go to branding. Bangladesh must search for markets, adopt strategies to compete with rivals and build links with foreign investors and importers, where its embassies can play a role. Along with higher production, storage and alternative uses of the crop must be considered. Above all, there is no policy on mango production and marketing, and that must be addressed too. Mangoes could add a new dimension to Bangladesh's exports, but serious steps are needed.

To return to the rural poet Jasimuddin, who wrote of the mango and jackfruit orchard beside his uncle's house: today Bangladesh's mangoes could reach many more homes of buyers around the world. All it needs is a little initiative.

The writer is a journalist, children's author and Liberation War researcher.

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