Naogaon is a mango district whose fruit is known across the country and in demand abroad. Its Sapahar, Porsha and Niamatpur upazilas lie in the Barind tract: dusty in the dry season and muddy in the monsoon. Thanks to the clay soil, the mangoes here are very tasty and sweet.

Although all three upazilas are famous for mangoes, only Sapahar's have been exported, for the past two years. Growers say they would profit more from exports with government support.

According to the district Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), 140.21 metric tonnes (3,505.25 maunds) of mangoes from seven orchard owners in Sapahar have been exported to various countries: 140 tonnes of Amrapali and 0.21 tonnes of Banana Mango. At Tk 4,500 a maund, the shipments are worth about Tk 1 crore 57 lakh 73 thousand 625.

The mangoes went to Italy (12 tonnes), Switzerland (9), Singapore (7), Qatar (39), London (6), Kuwait (16), Dubai (16), Bahrain (8), the Netherlands (4) and Portugal (5).

This year mango orchards cover 30,000 hectares in the district. At 12.50 tonnes a hectare, output is about 3.78 lakh tonnes. The export target has been set at 450 tonnes, and 140.21 tonnes have been exported so far. This year 90 lakh mangoes were fruit-bagged. For exports, 130 farmers were trained this year. Last year 77 tonnes were exported.

Mangoes from the Barind clay soil are famed for their taste and sweetness. Amrapali, BARI-4, Fazli and Banana Mango are on the market, with Amrapali top of consumers' lists. Of the district's 30,000 hectares of orchards, 18,313.5 hectares are Amrapali, whose sweet aroma makes people keener still.

Export mangoes need special care. Flies and insects are the main enemies, and fruit bagging and other methods are needed to produce safe mangoes. Naogaon lags well behind neighbouring Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj in exports. A quiet mango revolution has spread through the district, but it is still held back by a lack of proper support.

Tofazzal Hossain of Khottapara village in Goala union, Sapahar, has orchards of various varieties on 75 bighas, with trees three to five years old. His mangoes are going abroad this year, but he is not exporting directly or under a contract with an exporter; exporters buy from his orchard and ship the fruit. He is earning good prices and profiting, and says he will export himself from next year if he gets help.

"I had no plan or thought of exporting mangoes," he said. "Exporters found me and got in touch. They pick mangoes in each orchard according to quality and pack them. I am getting Tk 300–400 more a maund than at the market."

"I harvested up to 120 maunds of Amrapali per bigha," he said. "The mangoes were looked after very carefully. If I get help I will export myself from next year, and I could send four to five times as much as is going from my orchard this year."

Sakhawat Hossain of Chowdhurypara in the upazila owns 500 bighas of mango orchards. Hoping for good prices, he fruit-bagged 14 lakh 20 thousand mangoes this year: 10 lakh 20 thousand Amrapali, 60,000 Gourmati, 40,000 Ashwina and 4 lakh BARI-4, according to the figures he gave.

"Exporters collect mangoes from the orchards and export them themselves," he said. "We cannot export because we have no licence, but if the government arranges the process we will, and we will be the ones who profit. This year I hope to sell 50–75 tonnes to exporters."

He also complained that the company "Astha" had cheated them with very poor-quality bags. He bought 4 lakh fruit bags from Astha at Tk 4.44 each. A fruit bag can be used for up to three seasons, but Astha's bags were finished after one, so he is counting a loss of Tk 17 lakh 76 on them. About 50 percent of the bagged mangoes also turned black and were spoiled. Under their agreement Astha was to buy mangoes from his orchard at market price, so he would not have to pay for the bags, but now it wants payment for the bags instead of buying the mangoes. Bags from other companies caused no problems, he said.

Sohel Rana, owner of Barendra Agro Park in the upazila, has 150 bighas of mango orchards, of which a bigha and a half are under special management for Amrapali, BARI-4, Gourmati and Banana Mango. He exported 25 tonnes last year and hopes to export 50 tonnes this year.

Describing the problems, the young entrepreneur said a major one is the lack of contract farming between growers and exporters, and exporters not taking growers' mangoes as agreed even after contracts are signed. Sapahar is also far from Dhaka, so quality cannot be maintained once the mangoes get there, and regional pack houses are needed. Fruit bag prices should come down to encourage safe mango production, and farmers need training in growing export-grade mangoes. That would raise growers' interest in exporting, he said.

Sapahar upazila agriculture officer Mst Shapla Khatun said 77 tonnes were exported from the upazila last year. This year a target of about 140 tonnes was set and has been met, and more will be exported. To produce safe mangoes, about 60 lakh mangoes were fruit-bagged, and care and advice on measured pesticide use were given for orchards on about 30 hectares. Growers are exporting through exporters; if they can become members of the export association, they will be able to export themselves.

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