Ahsan Habib lives in Shibganj municipality in Chapainawabganj. Local people know him as "Aampagol" (mango-crazy), and he even works to press the demands of ordinary mango farmers. This time, though, he has been let down himself: he is in trouble after storing mangoes in a government storage facility on the advice of local agriculture officials.

On 14 June, Ahsan Habib placed about 3 tonnes of mangoes in the storage facility of the Rajshahi Division Agricultural Development through Modern Technology Expansion project at Academy Mor in Shibganj municipality. But far from being preserved, the mangoes began to rot within a few days. Unable to find buyers quickly, he had to sell them cheaply, and more than about 30 percent of his mangoes rotted and were lost.

"I had about 3 tonnes of geographical indication (GI)-certified Khirsapat and Langra mangoes from my orchard," Ahsan Habib said. "One day the person in charge of the government storage at Academy Mor told me raw mangoes could be kept there for up to 90 days and then taken out and sold still raw. I thought that since everyone's trees are full of mangoes now, I would get a good price if I sold them after Eid."

"So I discussed it with the upazila agriculture officers, and on their advice I put about 3 tonnes of Langra and Khirsapat mangoes in the storage. But when I went on 25 June, I found my mangoes had started to rot. Seeing that, I desperately looked for buyers, but nobody wanted them. In the end I begged a wholesaler I know to take them. He has not yet said what he will pay, nor paid anything. I have lost about Tk 2.5 lakh."

He added that when he picked the mangoes they could have been sold for Tk 3,000 to 4,000 a maund. "But by storing them in the government facility on the upazila agriculture officers' advice, I have made a loss. I doubt whether I will get even Tk 50,000 for mangoes worth about Tk 2.5 lakh. I want compensation."

Shibganj upazila agriculture officer Shariful Islam said: "We did not realise that Ahsan Habib's mangoes were over-mature. That is mainly why they ripened. But I do not know about them rotting. We now have Fazli mangoes stored there, and those are not ripening."

Asked about it, S M Hasanuzzaman, project director of the Rajshahi Division agricultural development project, said: "I am not aware of this. The Shibganj storage facility has been opened on a trial basis. Upazila agriculture officer Shariful Islam could have informed me before the mangoes were stored there. Are you doing a news story? There is no need for such stories. We will help that mango farmer through another project. If such news comes out, other farmers will be frightened. We will stand by the affected farmer."

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