Naogaon's mango trees have been covered in blossom this year, and young fruit is now setting. But traders have still not come to buy orchards, and orchard owners are worried. So growers are busy protecting the young fruit themselves, regularly spraying pesticide and water.

Growers say production costs are rising because fertiliser, pesticide, fuel and labour have become dearer. They will profit if they get a good price, but no one has yet come to buy their orchards.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in the district, there are mango orchards on 30,000 hectares, 525 hectares more than last year. At 12.50 tonnes a hectare, the district could produce 3,75,535 tonnes of mangoes.

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

On the ground, the scent of blossom fills the air, with blossom and young mangoes among the green leaves. Growers said they had spent about Tk 6,000-7,000 a bigha in a month and a half. From blossom to market, the cost will be about Tk 35,000-40,000 a bigha. If prices are good, they will make a profit after costs.

Orchards are sold in several stages, judged on the young fruit, the stones and the quality. Depending on the trees, blossom and soil, a hectare of orchard sells for Tk 5-8 lakh. But with traders not yet buying, owners are anxious and have stepped in themselves to protect the trees against harsh weather.

Rezaul Karim, a mango grower from Kherunda village in Sapahar, said: "I have an orchard of Amrapali and BARI-4 varieties on six bighas. With no rain this year, the cost of tending the mangoes has gone up. Usually it costs about Tk 35,000-40,000 a bigha from blossom to market. This year costs have risen because labour, pesticides and other inputs are dearer. If mango prices are good, we can recover."

Mango grower Bablu Hossain said: "I planted an orchard on six bighas five years ago. Last year I sold it for Tk 5 lakh while the trees were in blossom. This year the blossom has set fruit, but no trader has turned up, so I am tending the orchard myself. One rain has put some moisture in the soil. I am worried about the orchard."

Entrepreneurs Shahin Alam and Abdul Bari of Rupur village said these Barind lands used to grow only one crop a year, Aman paddy, yielding 10-15 maunds a bigha and earning Tk 5,000-6,000, with some costs besides. Now people are giving up paddy, leasing land at Tk 20,000-25,000 a bigha and spending another Tk 30,000-40,000 on saplings and other costs to set up orchards. Educated young people are showing more interest in farming as a result, and a bigha of mangoes sells for Tk 2-2.5 lakh, they said.

Sohel Rana, owner of Sapahar Barendra Agro Park, said the district has already become known as the mango capital, but no facilities for storing mangoes have yet been built. Without mango cold storage, mangoes worth about Tk 400 crore are wasted every year, he said, and Naogaon would advance further economically if cold stores were set up. Last year he exported 25 tonnes of Amrapali and Banana Mango to England, the Netherlands, Sweden and Qatar and made a good profit, and he hopes to export more this year.

Md Abul Kalam Azad, deputy director of the DAE in Naogaon, told Jago News that mango orchards cover 30,000 hectares in the district this year, with a production target of about 3,78,000 tonnes. As the weather is favourable, sub-assistant agriculture officers in the field are advising growers to spray fungicide and pesticide on the trees. The target is expected to be met, he said.

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