Mangoes are still hanging on the trees in September at the orchard of Sohel Rana, a grower in Sapahar upazila of Naogaon. The off-season fruit is selling at a premium, and he expects to earn Tk 6.3 million from the orchard this season.

His 75-bigha (about 10-hectare) Barendra Agro orchard has 1,800 trees of the late-maturing Gourmoti variety and 1,700 of the year-round Katimon. Gourmoti began going to market in the second week of August and Katimon in the first week of September.

Rana expects about 400 maunds (roughly 15 tonnes) of Gourmoti and 450 maunds of Katimon. At an average of Tk 7,000 a maund, the Katimon should bring Tk 3.15 million; Gourmoti, selling for at least Tk 8,000 a maund, about Tk 3.2 million — Tk 6.3 million in all from fruit picked when the ordinary mango season is long over.

The orchard has become a local attraction, drawing visitors every day, some of whom travel from a distance and say they want to plant similar orchards. It employs at least ten local young men in its upkeep, each paid Tk 600 a day.

Across Naogaon district, growers are adding late Gourmoti and year-round Katimon alongside the standard seasonal varieties. Md Monjur Rahman, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Naogaon, said the late varieties fetch orchard owners higher prices, that the department is advising and supporting mango growers, and that the district's farmers are steadily moving towards profitable, exportable mango production. The report is by Krishi Shomoy's Naogaon correspondent.

Source: Krishi Shomoy