Under Rajshahi's mango calendar, Gopalbhog mangoes were not due on the market until 22 May. Yet on 17 May 2025 Jagonews24 reported that the variety had already filled Shaheb Bazar, Court Bazar, New Market and other markets in the city. It was on sale in a number of shops and from vans in residential neighbourhoods, and most of it was unripe. The agriculture department said the fruit came from outside Rajshahi: a few farmers in the district had mangoes ripening, but none had yet been allowed to pick them.
What the mango calendar allowed, and when
According to Prothom Alo, Deputy Commissioner Afia Akhtar announced the season's calendar on 7 May 2025 at a district meeting on mango transport, marketing and harvesting. It set these picking dates by variety:
- Guti (local seedling) mangoes: 15 May
- Gopalbhog: 22 May
- Ranipasand and Lakshmanbhog: 25 May
- Himsagar (Khirshapati): 30 May
- Banana Mango and Langra: 10 June
- Amrapali and Fazli: 15 June
- BARI Aam-4: 5 July; Ashwina: 10 July; Gourmati: 15 July
- Katimon and BARI Aam-11: all year round, once ripe
At that meeting Umme Salma, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Rajshahi, said the calendar existed so that immature mangoes would not reach consumers. The deputy commissioner added that if a natural disaster made earlier picking necessary anywhere, growers could pick with permission from the upazila agriculture officer. DAE figures put that year's mango area in the district at 19,603 hectares, with a production target of 260,000 tonnes.
Buyers complain of raw fruit and high prices
Questions were raised about the quality of the early Gopalbhog, and the price was high: it was selling at Tk 70 to 80, which left ordinary buyers unhappy.
Firoz Ali, shopping at Shaheb Bazar, said: "There should still be guti mangoes now, yet Gopalbhog has arrived. What is available has all been ripened from unripe fruit, and the taste is completely bland. Still, I bought some as the first mangoes of the season." Another buyer, Raihan Ali, said the fruit looked ripe from the outside but turned out completely raw when cut, and that he had been cheated paying a high price for the first mangoes.
Sellers, growers and the agriculture department
Mango seller Abu Jafar said: "We know Gopalbhog is supposed to be picked on the 22nd, but because demand is high some mangoes had to be picked early. The fruit is not good and the quality is poor, but we were forced to bring it to market."
Maruf Hossain, a grower in the Kharkhari bypass area, said some Gopalbhog in his orchard had begun to ripen, though not fully. No wholesaler had come yet, so he had picked some early. "I did not take any permission from the agriculture department. They ripened, so I picked and am selling them," he said.
Umme Salma of the DAE said: "Gopalbhog mangoes are supposed to come to market on 22 May. The mangoes now on the market are probably not from our area."
The early Gopalbhog was not confined to the city's shops. Prothom Alo reported on 16 May 2025 that picking had begun in the district the day before, 15 May, with guti mangoes, yet Gopalbhog dominated the Baneshwar mango market in Puthia upazila on the very first day. Growers said the fruit had ripened on the trees, and Monirul Belal, a trader who sells mangoes online, told the paper that mangoes on big trees ripen earlier.
Photo: Mostafizur Rahman Sawon / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Sources: Jagonews24, Prothom Alo (7 and 16 May 2025), Department of Agricultural Extension, Rajshahi
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