Bumper mango output likely in Rajshahi region
Sunday, 15 May 2011
FHM Humayan Kabir
A bumper mango production is expected in the country's main hub Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj districts in the current season as the pre-monsoon rain has helped the trees to blossom, agriculture officials and growers said. The agriculture department officials said production of the juicy fruit in this major mango hub is expected to be nearly 0.30 million tonnes this year, about 10 per cent higher than that of the last year. "Despite an off-year for mango production this season, we are expecting a bloated production due to pre-monsoon rain over the last couple of months that has helped blossoms," Additional Director of agriculture department at Rajshahi Kalidas Debnath said. The pre-monsoon rain has helped to keep the mango blooms alive and blossom those properly, he told the FE. Deputy Director at Rajshahi agriculture department Nurul Amin said usually if there is a good mango production in a particular year, in the subsequent year the yield is poor. "Though only 72 per cent trees have bloomed this year, the rains have helped the blossoms to sustain and grow into mango fruit," said Mr Amin. A mango grower in Kansat area at Chapainawabganj, Mahatab Ahmed, said, "I am very much hopeful of getting a very good output this year from my mango garden." "Pre-monsoon rains over the last couple of months have helped the mango blossoms to grow perfectly. So I am expecting a good harvest," he told the FE. In the current season, some 8,667 hectares of land has been covered under the mango farming in Rajshahi district and 23,070 hectares in Chapainawabganj district. The agriculture department targets 109,843 tonnes of mango production in Rajshahi district and 184,560 tonnes in Chapainawabganj district this season. "Many growers are getting attracted to produce mango day by day as it is now a very profitable business," Director of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Dhaka Nazrul Islam told the FE. He said farmers have planted mango plants even at their paddy fields as it is possible to cultivate both the crops simultaneously. The mango production is growing popular in the greater Rajshahi region as now-a-days there is better marketing facilities of the juicy fruit across the country, Mr Islam said. Growers at Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj districts alone supply nearly 40 per cent of the country's total mango production which amounts to some 0.70 million tonnes. Mango farming has turned into a commercial activity in the Rajshahi region creating thousands of jobs and business of billions of takas, Mr Kalidas Debnath said. Based on the juicy fruit some small and medium industries and hundreds of home-based micro-industries have emerged at the greater Rajshahi zone.+
A bumper mango production is expected in the country's main hub Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj districts in the current season as the pre-monsoon rain has helped the trees to blossom, agriculture officials and growers said. The agriculture department officials said production of the juicy fruit in this major mango hub is expected to be nearly 0.30 million tonnes this year, about 10 per cent higher than that of the last year. "Despite an off-year for mango production this season, we are expecting a bloated production due to pre-monsoon rain over the last couple of months that has helped blossoms," Additional Director of agriculture department at Rajshahi Kalidas Debnath said. The pre-monsoon rain has helped to keep the mango blooms alive and blossom those properly, he told the FE. Deputy Director at Rajshahi agriculture department Nurul Amin said usually if there is a good mango production in a particular year, in the subsequent year the yield is poor. "Though only 72 per cent trees have bloomed this year, the rains have helped the blossoms to sustain and grow into mango fruit," said Mr Amin. A mango grower in Kansat area at Chapainawabganj, Mahatab Ahmed, said, "I am very much hopeful of getting a very good output this year from my mango garden." "Pre-monsoon rains over the last couple of months have helped the mango blossoms to grow perfectly. So I am expecting a good harvest," he told the FE. In the current season, some 8,667 hectares of land has been covered under the mango farming in Rajshahi district and 23,070 hectares in Chapainawabganj district. The agriculture department targets 109,843 tonnes of mango production in Rajshahi district and 184,560 tonnes in Chapainawabganj district this season. "Many growers are getting attracted to produce mango day by day as it is now a very profitable business," Director of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Dhaka Nazrul Islam told the FE. He said farmers have planted mango plants even at their paddy fields as it is possible to cultivate both the crops simultaneously. The mango production is growing popular in the greater Rajshahi region as now-a-days there is better marketing facilities of the juicy fruit across the country, Mr Islam said. Growers at Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj districts alone supply nearly 40 per cent of the country's total mango production which amounts to some 0.70 million tonnes. Mango farming has turned into a commercial activity in the Rajshahi region creating thousands of jobs and business of billions of takas, Mr Kalidas Debnath said. Based on the juicy fruit some small and medium industries and hundreds of home-based micro-industries have emerged at the greater Rajshahi zone.+