Green mangoes have reached the market in Teknaf, Cox's Bazar. With demand high, these early mangoes are selling at Tk 500 to 550 a kg. Every year the trees here bear fruit a month and a half to two months early, and the mangoes are sold in the market.

Most green mangoes at the Teknaf bus station market are sold at a fruit shop called "Mama-Bhagina". Its owner, Md Yunus, said they had been selling green mangoes alongside other fruit for five years. In the past seven days they had bought at least Tk 12 lakh worth of green mangoes from the Baharchhara, Kachhpia and Sabrang areas of Teknaf, most of which were supplied to Dhaka and other parts of the country.

Jasim Uddin, another shopkeeper in Teknaf municipality, said: "Many people do not want to believe that mangoes can come to market in winter, so at first we have to explain to buyers that this is a local early variety from Teknaf. Although the price per kg is high, many are buying to taste them ahead of Ramadan. Demand is high, so sales are good every day."

Badsha Mia, a shopkeeper in the municipality, said: "Demand for Teknaf's early mangoes has now spread beyond the local market to the Cox's Bazar beach area. Visiting tourists are buying them with interest as a new fruit with a different taste. Prices are high because they reach the market before the season, but sales are not falling."

Teknaf upazila agriculture officer Md Humayun Kabir said: "This is probably a local year-round variety not seen anywhere else in the country. It looks similar, but it is not Rangui. The mangoes are thought to be fruiting a month and a half to two months early because of Teknaf's humid, warm climate. Detailed research is needed on this."

Khandaker Mahmud Pasha, deputy director of the Department of Environment's Cox's Bazar office, said: "Teknaf lies on the coast in the far south of the country. Temperature and humidity here are somewhat higher than in the north and centre, so even while other areas feel the winter chill, mango trees in Teknaf are already flowering. Because of the warm weather, the process from blossom to young fruit and from young fruit to full mango is completed quickly."

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