How Rajshahi's Fruit Research Station Is Quietly Changing Fruit Farming

The Fruit Research Station of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) at Binodpur in Rajshahi was working a quiet revolution in the country's fruit farming, Jagonews24 reported on 28 June 2026. Set among wide green orchards, the station is known for its work on mango, litchi and jujube (kul), but the report described a remit that reached well beyond breeding new varieties: developing export-quality mangoes, breeding fruit that resists disease, and adapting foreign fruits to Bangladesh's soil and weather so that farmers gain new sources of income. In its trial orchards and laboratories, the report said, the search for new possibilities never stopped.

The station's stated aims were to find scientific answers to the problems fruit growers meet in different parts of the country, to breed improved and high-yielding varieties, to raise fruit quality and to give farmers modern technical support. Its researchers told the paper that the need for improved varieties was growing every year: fruit production was rising, and growers had to cope with climate change, pests and diseases and the demands of international markets. The scientists identify problems in fruit production, work out how to manage them, and run long-term research to raise quality and produce new varieties suited to the market. Besides the mango and litchi of the Rajshahi region, the station was carrying out regular research on grapes, pomegranate, custard apple (ata), dragon fruit, strawberry and other local and foreign fruits, using germplasm collected from many countries alongside the diversity of the country's own fruits to develop new hybrid and improved varieties. It also worked on disease control, higher yields, modern orchard management and the problems farmers face in the field, which, the report said, had made it one of the driving forces of fruit-based farming in Bangladesh rather than simply a research institution.

BARI is the national institute responsible for research on all crops except rice, jute, sugarcane and tea, which have institutes of their own. According to Banglapedia, it began in 1908 as the Agricultural Research Laboratory, Bengal, in Dhaka, under the Bengal Department of Agriculture. In 1968 the department was divided into a directorate for extension and management and a directorate for research and education, and in 1976 the research directorate became BARI. Its central station is at Joydebpur in Gazipur. Banglapedia lists six regional stations, 24 sub-stations and six crop-based research centres, among them a Horticultural Research Centre, and research divisions that include entomology, plant pathology, plant breeding and post-harvest technology.

BARI's own figures, presented at its central research review and planning workshop in September 2022 and reported by The Daily Star, showed the institute conducting research on 211 crops and having developed 625 high-yielding, hybrid, disease-resistant and stress-tolerant varieties of different crops, along with 612 other production technologies. Fruit is one strand of that work. Banglapedia's entry on mango records that BARI's Division of Horticulture set up orchards and research centres or stations, including one each at Rajshahi, Nawabganj (Chapainawabganj) and Joydebpur, to study the propagation, production and post-harvest handling of mango, and its entry on Rajshahi district lists a Fruits Research Centre among the district's important installations. The Jagonews24 report counted the Binodpur station among the most important of BARI's research establishments.

The station sits in a district shaped by fruit. Rajshahi district covers 2,425.37 square kilometres in the north-west of Bangladesh. Banglapedia describes it as bounded by Naogaon to the north, the Indian state of West Bengal and the Ganges (Padma) to the south, Natore to the east and Nawabganj to the west, with land made up of the Barind tract, the Diara and char lands; its main rivers are the Padma, the Mahananda and the Shiba, and agriculture is the main source of income, at 59.35 per cent. Banglapedia also notes that the country's superior mango varieties are grown mostly in Rajshahi, Nawabganj and Dinajpur, and that Bangladesh has nearly 100 mango cultivars.

According to the station's information, as Jagonews24 reported it, the varieties developed at Rajshahi in recent years included BARI Litchi-1, BARI Shahi Papaya-1, BARI Kul-1, BARI Kul-2 and BARI Kul-3, BARI Jamrul-1, BARI Batabi Lebu-3 (a pummelo), BARI Falsa-1 and BARI Mango-14. Through this research the station had produced improved varieties of mango, falsa, jamrul (wax apple), litchi, pummelo and jujube, an important contribution to fruit research in the country.

The list matches the count the station gave more than five years earlier. In January 2021 its principal scientific officer at the time told The Daily Star that, with BARI Mango-14 and BARI Falsa-1, the centre had added a total of nine fruit varieties, and that the country then had 92 varieties of 36 kinds of fruit. "We are proud and delighted. We believe these fruits will be popular among farmers and people for their taste, nutrient values and commercial potential," he said. The National Seed Board registered the two varieties on 31 December 2020, and the certificates reached Rajshahi in January 2021.

Of the station's recent varieties, BARI Falsa-1 and BARI Mango-14 had drawn particular attention, the June 2026 report said. BARI Mango-14 is an attractive coloured mango that had opened up the possibility of exports. The report also described one of the station's jamrul varieties as sweeter, softer and tastier than the common jamrul and said it had already been well received.

The story of BARI Mango-14 began in 2010, when a BARI scientist who had been working on mangoes in Saudi Arabia brought a branch of a mango tree from there to the Rajshahi centre, The Daily Star and The Financial Express reported in 2021. The centre's scientists grew ten plants from the branch by grafting. Only one of them survived, and from it the researchers raised five mother plants over ten years.

Those mother trees bear fruit at the end of July each year, and the oblong fruit turns a vibrant maroon when ripe. The Daily Star gave a fruit weight of around 569 grams and a potential yield of 14 tonnes per hectare; The Financial Express gave an average weight of 550 grams, a length of 10.83 centimetres and a breadth of 8.49 centimetres. Both papers reported that 75.35 per cent of the fruit is edible and that its sugar content, or sweetness, is 22.83 per cent. The Financial Express added that some other coloured mangoes had also been registered in the country.

In BARI's terms, BARI Mango-14 is a variety obtained by introduction: a promising foreign tree is brought in, observed and cared for over several years, and released as a variety if it adapts to the local weather. Prothom Alo, describing the methods in June 2025, gave two examples of this route: BARI Mango-3, which came from India and is known as Amrapali, and BARI Mango-14, which came from Saudi Arabia. In June 2026 the station's chief scientific officer, Dr Shafiqul Islam, told Jagonews24 that BARI Mango-14 in particular had created potential as an exportable variety.

Falsa, known to science as Grewia asiatica, is a small, berry-like fruit whose small trees grow across Bangladesh. The Daily Star reported in January 2021 that it had been recognised as a variety for the first time with the registration of BARI Falsa-1, and The Financial Express described it as an indigenous fruit of Rajshahi. The variety was selected from a 20-year-old tree at the centre.

BARI Falsa-1 trees regularly bear fruit in May and June. The small, round fruits weigh around 0.66 grams each and turn purple when ripe. The fruit is sweet and sour, has a sugar content of 24 per cent, and each tree bears 20 kilograms of fruit a year, according to the figures the centre gave the two papers. "This fruit is grown almost everywhere in the country, but it was never recognised. But it has the potential," the centre's principal scientific officer told The Daily Star at the time. The Financial Express reported that the centre's scientists planned to expand the cultivation of both BARI Mango-14 and BARI Falsa-1.

The station's role in mango research is central. All 18 mango varieties developed by BARI, from BARI Mango-1 to BARI Mango-18, were conserved and under research there in June 2026, Jagonews24 reported. Among them, BARI Mango-3 (Amrapali), BARI Mango-4 (a hybrid) and BARI Mango-14 (a coloured mango) stand out. The station's germplasm, collected at home and abroad, included promising varieties such as Surjapuri, King Chakapat, Chiang Mai, Kiujai, Miyazaki, Dudhsor and Mallika, and research was also under way on popular traditional varieties such as Khirsapat, Langra, Gopalbhog, Banana Mango, Katimon and Haribhanga. The yield, taste, disease resistance and keeping quality of these varieties were tested regularly.

Scientific officer Ridwanul Karim told the paper that the station held the 18 BARI mango varieties along with other local and foreign varieties in its germplasm, and that its scientists used them as parent material in hybridisation to breed new varieties. He added that seedlings of good fruit varieties were distributed free to farmers in the field so that they would be encouraged to grow them.

Prothom Alo set out how BARI's mangoes had been bred in a report of June 2025. Work on new mango varieties began in Bangladesh in 1993. Four of BARI's varieties came through hybridisation, two through introduction and twelve through selection, while the mutation method had produced none. Fourteen of the 18 came from the mango research centre in Chapainawabganj and the other four from Rajshahi and other fruit research centres. The hybrids are BARI Mango-4, from a cross between Ashwina and a coloured mango from Florida in the United States; BARI Mango-13, from BARI Mango-3 and Palmer; BARI Mango-17, from BARI Mango-3 and BARI Mango-4; and BARI Mango-18, from Gopalbhog and BARI Mango-1. BARI Mango-1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15 and 16 were obtained by selection, choosing the best genotypes from collected local or foreign germplasm.

Two of those varieties had reshaped the market by 2026. BARI Mango-3, a hybrid of the Indian Dasheri and Neelum varieties, was released by BARI in 1996 and became widely available from 2009-10, a BARI senior scientific officer told The Daily Star. The paper reported in July 2023, citing the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), that of some 23.5 lakh tonnes of mango produced in fiscal year 2021-22, some 600,000 tonnes were Amrapali, one in four of all mangoes in the country, and that its sweetness level of around 26 on the Brix scale was the highest among mangoes. BARI Mango-4, a hybrid of the Florida variety M3896 and the local Ashwina, was released in 2003; in June 2021 it was grown on 4,000 to 5,000 hectares and valued as a late variety reaching markets from the last week of July. BARI Mango-18, the Gopalbhog cross, had already received its registration certificate from the National Seed Board when Bangladesh Pratidin reported on it on 2 January 2022; its developer described an average fruit weight of about 240 grams, 75 per cent edible flesh, a sweetness of 24.67 per cent and an aroma like Langra, with fruit ripening from mid-June to the end of June.

Litchi is an important cash fruit in the Rajshahi region, and the station was giving special weight to selecting and breeding better litchi varieties. In June 2026 it was comparing BARI Litchi-1 to BARI Litchi-5 with the popular Bombai litchi to find out which gives the best yield in Rajshahi's weather and soil. It was also researching tree height control, modern pruning methods and technology to raise yields. When litchi trees grow too large, yields often fall, and the station uses special techniques to bring such trees back into production.

Ridwanul Karim told Jagonews24 that correct pruning plays an important part behind a bumper litchi harvest, but many farmers do not know about it. The branches of the trees should be cut back every year after the litchi harvest, he said, so that both yield and fruit size are maintained.

The 2026 litchi season showed both the crop's value and its exposure to weather. According to the Rajshahi district office of the DAE, litchi was grown on 528 hectares across the district's nine upazilas that season, with a production target of 3,775 tonnes of local and Bombai litchi, and the agriculture department and growers expected trade worth at least Tk 56 crore, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) reported on 14 May 2026. By then the large, juicy Bombai litchi dominated the city's markets, with 100 good litchis selling for Tk 300 to Tk 350. Earlier in the month, on 3 May, sellers had told BSS that a long dry spell and intense heat had stunted fruit and split many litchis before they ripened, and DAE officials said climate change was adding uncertainty to fruit production, warning that continued drought and high temperatures could reduce output in litchi-growing areas such as Rajshahi.

The station had recently collected several grape varieties, which were being grown in the field on a trial basis; if the results were good, improved varieties would be released to farmers, Jagonews24 reported. Several varieties of pomegranate were under research in the same way, and the station held several varieties of custard apple (sharifa), from which it planned to select improved ones for farmers.

Beyond mango and litchi, research was under way on jamrul, guava, pummelo, grapes, kul (jujube), coconut, jackfruit, strawberry, dragon fruit, pomegranate, falsa, amra (hog plum), olive, malta, jam (black plum), banana and papaya. For each fruit the work covered variety improvement, management of diseases and pests, production technology and ways to raise yields. Fruit trees collected from local and foreign sources were used for hybridisation and development research, and the varieties brought from other countries were being tested to see whether they could adapt to Bangladesh's climate and soil; if they succeeded, they would be released to farmers. The station held a large collection of local and foreign fruit germplasm, which its scientists regard as an important resource for future research.

Jujube is one fruit where Rajshahi already leads. Citing DAE and Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics data, Prothom Alo reported in February 2026 that the country produced 1,01,523 tonnes of kul in fiscal 2024-25 and 1,00,818 tonnes in 2023-24, and that in 2023-24 Rajshahi district had the highest output, 8,759 tonnes, followed by Mymensingh with 7,229 tonnes and Cumilla with 4,128 tonnes. A chief scientific officer of BARI's fruit division told the paper that BARI had developed five kul varieties, and that the release of BAU Kul by Bangladesh Agricultural University had transformed jujube growing. The kul season runs from January to April, when few other local fruits are on the market, and agricultural scientists describe the tree as drought-tolerant and comparatively less troubled by disease.

The report came in the middle of the 2026 mango season. The DAE's Rajshahi region, which covers Rajshahi, Naogaon, Natore and Chapainawabganj districts, had 92,552 hectares of mango orchards with 3,49,60,554 mango trees, BSS reported on 26 February 2026. Rajshahi district's orchards had shrunk to 19,062 hectares from 19,603 hectares the previous year, while Naogaon's had grown to 30,500 hectares; Chapainawabganj had 37,487 hectares and Natore 5,069 hectares. The same report quoted Dr Shafiqul Islam of the Fruit Research Station as saying that the winter had ended smoothly, without fog or rain, and that temperatures had risen gradually without sudden swings, which let the trees keep up the process of flowering. An associate professor of economics at the University of Rajshahi told BSS that some farmers were cutting down mango trees as profits fell, that Naogaon had taken over Rajshahi's former lead, and that most Rajshahi varieties are late ones which reach the market when prices have fallen, while the lack of storage forces growers to sell perishable fruit cheaply.

For the 2024-25 fiscal year the DAE's Rajshahi office recorded 19,603 hectares of mango in the district and production of 2,49,952 tonnes, Bangla Tribune reported in February 2026. In May 2026 the district's target was 2,43,995 tonnes, with a likely market value of Tk 780.68 crore, according to an additional deputy director of the DAE in Rajshahi quoted by bdnews24.com on 15 May. BSS's upazila figures of 18 May put 8,070 hectares of mango in Bagha and 4,900 hectares in Charghat. Under the district administration's harvest calendar, guti (seedling) mangoes could be picked from 15 May, Gopalbhog from 22 May, Lakhanbhog and Ranipasand from 25 May, Himsagar or Khirsapat from 30 May, Langra from 10 June, Amrapali and Fazli from 15 June, Ashwina and BARI-4 from 5 July, Gourmati from 15 July and Ilamati from 20 August, while Katimon and BARI-11 could be harvested and sold all year round. When the Jagonews24 report appeared on 28 June, the Amrapali and Fazli harvest was under way and the late BARI-4 was still to come.

Banglapedia's account of the crop explains why such research matters. Mango grows on almost any deep soil with a pH between 5.5 and 7.5 and does best where good rain is followed by a well-defined dry season; fog, rain or cloud in January to March, when the trees flower, harms fruit set, and storms and hailstorms bring down immature fruit. Grafted trees begin to bear in their fourth year and stay productive to about their 45th year. Among the causes of low production it lists old, unproductive trees, poor management, a lack of plant protection and the continued raising of trees from seed rather than grafts.

The station also works as an important service centre for farmers. Growers from different areas bring it problems of disease, insect pests and production in their fruit trees, and its plant pathologists diagnose the diseases and give the advice needed. The use of modern research technology at the station was increasing: various modern methods were being used to identify fruit diseases, select new varieties, carry out hybridisation, conserve germplasm and evaluate yields scientifically. As a result of this research, the report said, farmers were getting the chance to produce more at lower cost.

Alongside its successes the station faced challenges. According to the officials concerned, its biggest problem was a shortage of manpower. Without enough researchers and technical staff, it often could not widen the scope of its research, and although the necessary budget and allocation were available, the staff shortage meant they could not be put to the fullest use. Those involved said that more skilled staff were urgently needed to improve the quality of research and to develop new technologies.

Chief scientific officer Dr Shafiqul Islam told Jagonews24 that the regional fruit research station in Rajshahi had been working consistently to modernise and diversify the country's fruit sector. "Our main aim is to develop new fruit varieties that are high-yielding, disease-resistant and suited to the market, so that farmers' incomes rise and the country's fruit production becomes richer," he said. He added that the station was researching mango, litchi, guava, kul, jamrul, pomegranate, dragon fruit, strawberry, grapes and other local and foreign fruits, that BARI Mango-14, BARI Falsa-1, BARI Shahi Papaya-1 and improved varieties of BARI litchi and BARI kul were among many important varieties already developed and bringing positive change to farming, that BARI Mango-14 in particular had created potential as an exportable variety, and that work was continuing on new hybrids and on adapting foreign fruits.

Photo: Tanvir Rahat / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). The top picture shows a mango tree in Rajshahi, as background.

Sources: Jagonews24 (28 June 2026), The Daily Star (23 January 2021, 10 June 2021, 30 September 2022 and 21 July 2023), The Financial Express (8 March 2021), Bangladesh Pratidin (2 January 2022), Prothom Alo (12 June 2025 and 7 February 2026), Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (26 February, 3 May, 14 May and 18 May 2026), Bangla Tribune (16 February 2026), bdnews24.com (15 May 2026), Banglapedia (Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Mango, Rajshahi District)