Orchard owners and traders in Natore are not getting the prices they hoped for this mango season, and they fear they will not recover the money spent on their orchards.

At several markets across Natore, the wholesale depots were flooded with mangoes. Himsagar, Khirsapat, Rani Pasand, Lakshmanbhog, Mohanbhog, Langra and many other varieties arrive every day, but orchard owners are not getting fair prices.

Orchard owners and traders who lease orchards said they are not even covering production costs this year. When they bring mangoes to market, wholesalers offer low prices: Tk 1,000 a maund for Himsagar, Tk 800 for Khirsapat and Tk 400 for Lakshmanbhog. At these prices they are left with nothing.

Zahidul Islam and Abdus Sattar, orchard owners in Chhatni village, said that although the fruit is a little smaller this year because of the lack of rain, every orchard has plenty of mangoes. But after picking the fruit and paying to transport it to the depots, the wholesalers quote low prices, so production costs are not being covered.

They said they got good prices for Himsagar and Khirsapat at the start, when mangoes sold for Tk 60 to 70 a kg. Prices have since dropped suddenly, putting growers in difficulty. Even good varieties are now not selling for more than Tk 800 to 1,000 a maund at the depots.

Dabir Hossain, a trader who leased orchards in advance, said he paid Tk 5 lakh to lease two small orchards. With guarding, pesticides and other costs, he has spent about Tk 7 lakh in all. At current market prices he will not even get his capital back.

Wholesaler Shahidul Islam said mango prices have dropped suddenly. Traders from Dhaka and other districts used to buy mangoes from Natore, but now they are not coming, and the one or two who do come offer low prices. "So we are buying mangoes at the price we will be able to sell them for," he said.

Abdul Wadud, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Natore, said mangoes of various varieties were grown on 5,747 hectares in Natore this season. Growers got good prices at first, and market prices are a little lower now. He said the department is working to export mangoes from Natore, as from other districts.

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