CHT farmers happy with mango production

RANGAMATI, May 24 (BSS): Bumper output of mango in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region has brought smile on the faces of the local farmers, who have cultivated the juicy fruit this season.
After meeting the local demand, a vast quantity of mangoes of different varieties are being supplied to other parts of the country daily, said Additional Director (AD) of Directorate of Agriculture Extension (DAE), Rangamati region, Haroon-or-Rashid.
About 22,000 tonnes of mangoes have been harvested so far from the orchards on 1,500 hectares of land in the hill district of Rangamati, he added.
Proper nurturing of orchards, combating diseases of trees by spraying pesticides as per advice of the DAE officials and overall conducive environment for farming are considered as the key reasons for getting bumper yield of mangoes this year, said Brisho Ketu Chakma, chairman of Rangamati hill district council.
There are nearly 500 mango orchards in the three hill districts of CHT. In Rangamati many of the growers sell their mangoes to the wholesalers while those are in trees ahead of the harvest, added Mr Haroon.
This year production of mango exceeded previous year's output at Baghaichhari, Langadu, Zurachhari, Belaichhari, Langadu, Kawkhali and Razasthaki under Rangamati district.
Biddut Chakma, a mango farmer at Amanatbagh, said, "Many of the farmers cultivated mango with the saplings of 'Amropali,' which were distributed by the Rangamati hill district council free of cost a few years back."
"We have now started getting yield from the trees as the climate this year was favourable," he added.
Members of ethnic minority communities, both male and female, arrive daily in the Bonorupa, Tabalchhari, College Gate markets and Reservebazaar with baskets filled with mangoes collected either from homestead trees or gardens.