Mango picking in Naogaon will begin on 22 May this season, starting with Guti mangoes, though tasty mangoes will take a little longer. The agriculture department sees prospects of a Tk 2,500 crore mango trade in the district this year.

Under the schedule set by the administration, Guti mangoes may be picked from 22 May, Gopalbhog from 30 May, Khirsapat/Himsagar from 2 June, Nakfazli from 5 June, Langra and Haribhanga from 10 June, Amrapali from 20 June, Fazli from 25 June, and Ashwina, BARI-4, Gourmoti and Katimon from 10 July.

This year mangoes have been grown on 33,300 hectares in Naogaon, which are expected to yield 4 lakh 31 thousand 500 tonnes. About 16 local and foreign varieties are grown, including Amrapali, Banana Mango, Miyazaki, Katimon, Gourmoti and BARI varieties.

Sohel Rana, owner of Barendra Agro Park, said he has mango orchards of various varieties on about 75 bighas, set up following agricultural practices.

Nur, a mango grower from Islampur village in Sapahar upazila, said orchards grow every year because mango farming is profitable. From blossom to marketing it costs about Tk 30,000-35,000 a bigha, but the drought added another Tk 4,000-5,000 this year. "The wait is over; mangoes will be marketed within days. Even if there are fewer mangoes on the trees, good prices will make up for it," he said.

Abul Kalam Azad, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Naogaon, said 220 metric tonnes of mangoes were exported from Naogaon last year, and 3,100 metric tonnes from Bangladesh as a whole. "This year our target is to export at least 500 metric tonnes from Naogaon. We are working on it, bringing exporters to tour orchards with quality mangoes of different varieties. About Tk 2,500 crore of mangoes may be traded in Naogaon this season. A team of exporters is coming to Sapahar this Friday and Saturday," he said.

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