Gopalbhog mangoes have arrived at Baneshwar, the largest mango market in Rajshahi, but trade has yet to pick up. It is the height of the mango season and Gopalbhog is on sale, while Himsagar, Lakshmanbhog, Langra and several other varieties are still waiting to be picked. Supply is still well short of demand.

Wholesalers say that with few ripe mangoes coming in, they are getting by on fruit knocked down by storms. The market association says Himsagar will arrive in a few days, and the market will get busy then.

According to the Rajshahi weather office, gusty winds blew over several upazilas of the district in the previous 24 hours, reaching a top speed of 18 nautical miles. Earlier, on 16 May, a storm with winds of 30 nautical miles hit the area, the strongest of the season.

A visit to Baneshwar market found few mangoes on sale. Mangoes picked in orchards across Rajshahi's upazilas are normally brought here for sale, and in other years orchard owners and traders lay out their fruit as the morning wears on. This year, even after noon, few farmers or orchard owners were seen bringing mangoes. Many brought storm-fallen fruit, and some came with one or two baskets, which wholesalers snapped up as soon as they saw them.

Shahidul Islam brought mangoes from Durgapur in Rajshahi. "I picked some mangoes yesterday afternoon and came to the market this morning. I sold them at Tk 2,200 a maund. I got quite a good price," he said.

Abdul Gafur of the Baneshwar area brought storm-fallen mangoes to the same market. "There was a storm yesterday and a lot of mangoes fell. I have come to sell those today. I sold them at Tk 170 a maund," he said.

Shishir Ahmed buys fallen mangoes from neighbourhood to neighbourhood and brings them to the market. "I bought mangoes in the neighbourhoods at Tk 2 to Tk 5 a kg and sold them here at Tk 170," he said.

Small quantities of ripe mangoes have reached the market. Guti mangoes are selling at Tk 1,400 to Tk 1,800 a maund depending on quality, and Gopalbhog at Tk 2,000 to Tk 2,500 a maund.

Saiful Islam, president of the Baneshwar market association in Rajshahi, said many growers were not picking ripe mangoes because of the storms, fearing low prices. More storm-fallen mangoes are coming to the market, and wholesalers here are sending mangoes to Dhaka.

He said the Rajshahi mango market had not really got going this year from the start, mainly because of the storms and the fallen fruit. Himsagar will reach the market within the next few days, and trade will pick up then, he said.

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