The Barind district of Naogaon has been in the grip of a heatwave for two weeks in a row. Intense heat and lack of rain have disrupted daily life, and there is not a trace of cloud in the sky. Farmers are hardest hit: the fierce sun has dried out the soil's moisture, and with no means of irrigating the orchards, mangoes are falling from the trees.

According to the Badalgachhi agricultural meteorological observatory in Naogaon, maximum temperatures in the district have been 35 to 39.5 degrees Celsius over the past few days. With the severe drought, the sap in the fruit stalks is drying and the mangoes are dropping, leaving growers worried.

According to the district Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), the district has 30,000 hectares of mango orchards, 525 hectares more than last year. At 12.50 tonnes per hectare, production of 375,535 tonnes is possible.

By upazila, mangoes are grown on 510 hectares in Sadar, 130 in Raninagar, 120 in Atrai, 530 in Badalgachhi, 630 in Mahadebpur, 5,815 in Patnitala, 675 in Dhamoirhat, 400 in Manda, 10,550 in Porsha, 9,255 in Sapahar and 1,385.5 hectares in Niamatpur.

In parts of the border upazilas of Sapahar, Porsha, Niamatpur, Patnitala and Dhamoirhat, known as the Barind area, only one rain-fed crop, Aman paddy, was once grown. Now people are leaving paddy for mango orchards. This season the drought has brought a severe water shortage, there is no way to irrigate the orchards, and the stalks are drying out and the mangoes falling.

Md Noman, an entrepreneur from Tilna village in Sapahar upazila, said: "This year I have orchards of Amrapali, BARI-4 and Langra on 10 bighas, four bighas of which I have leased. So far I have spent about Tk 25,000 per bigha, and it will cost about Tk 45,000 by harvest. The mangoes are dropping for lack of rain, and with the water shortage I cannot water the orchard. If they keep dropping like this, I will make a loss."

Ismail Hossain, a mango grower from Saraigachhi village in Porsha, said: "I have leased 50 bighas of orchards with Khirsapat, Gopalbhog, Langra, BARI-4 and Amrapali. Mangoes are falling heavily from the stalks, with the worst problem in Langra and Amrapali. There is no water supply in the area, and what water there was in the ponds has dried up. Gopalbhog picking will start in a month, and Khirsapat 10 days after that. But at the rate the mangoes are falling, I will make a loss."

Md Abul Kalam Azad, deputy director of the DAE in Naogaon, said the district had 30,000 hectares of mango orchards this year and the trees had good blossom at first, but the heatwave was making the young fruit drop. Growers are being advised on saving the fruit: water the base of the trees, or spray the trees if irrigation is not possible. Trees three to five years old should be given 200 grams of urea and 100 grams of potash at the base, and the base can also be covered with straw or other debris.

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