The mango market at Sapahar upazila headquarters in Naogaon stretches along about 4 km of roadside. But the students' ongoing quota reform movement and the curfew imposed by the government have slowed it down. On Wednesday, 24 July, there was no great crowd at the market. With fewer mangoes arriving, however, prices have risen.

On the ground, the price of Amrapali rose by Tk 1,000-1,200 a maund within a week, BARI-4 by Tk 800-1,000, Fazli by Tk 500-600 and Banana Mango by Tk 600-700.

On 24 July, Amrapali sold at Sapahar for Tk 3,800 to Tk 5,500 a maund, BARI-4 for Tk 3,500 to Tk 4,300, Fazli for Tk 3,000 to Tk 3,400 and Banana Mango for Tk 5,500 to Tk 6,200.

According to the district Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), mangoes have been grown on 30,300 hectares in the district this year, with a production target of 4,24,200 tonnes.

Rakib Hasan, a grower from Bahapur village in Sapahar Sadar union, said he brought 10 maunds to market and sold them at Tk 4,300 a maund. "Prices are better today than over the last three or four days. I have my own orchard on 10 bighas. This year I will sell Tk 8-9 lakh worth of mangoes in all." He said that with less rain this year, pesticide costs were lower than last year, and prices were also better, so he would make a profit.

Kawsar Ali, a grower from Bongram in Dibar union of Patnitala upazila, said he brought 8 maunds of Amrapali and sold them at Tk 5,300 a maund. "Prices were a bit low for a while, but now they are good. You don't have to wait long to sell at the market either." He said growing mangoes costs Tk 20,000-25,000 a bigha. This year there are fewer mangoes on the trees, but because the fruit is larger the yield is still good, and mangoes worth Tk 85,000 to Tk 1.2 lakh are being sold per bigha.

Mojibar Rahman, a seasonal trader from Madaripur, told Jago News he has been trading at Sapahar for about three or four years. Prices have been high since the start of this season, he said, and have risen further over the last three or four days because of the curfew and the end of the season. He said mangoes he bought on Wednesday for Tk 3,700-3,800 now cost Tk 4,800-5,000 "today (24 July)". Prices are rising because fewer mangoes are coming in and there are more traders.

Agriculturist Abul Kalam Azad, deputy director of the Naogaon DAE, said that on the very first day of the curfew they met the district administration and law enforcement agencies and decided to ensure there would be no problems selling or transporting mangoes. All agricultural products have been kept outside the curfew.

He added that district and upazila agriculture officers are monitoring the markets regularly to avoid problems, and the district administration and the agriculture department are helping with the sale and transport of mangoes.

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