Mango orchards in Rajshahi indicate a bumper yield

RAJSHAHI, Apr 07: Braving storm and heat, the juvenile green mangoes are peeping through leaves. Being drenched with summer rain, those young green mangoes are growing fast as well.
So far, there was no report of pest attack in any mango orchard from anywhere in the district. As a result, the mango orchard owners and mango farmers of the district are optimistic of a good yield of mango.
They opined, if only 20 per cent of the total young mangoes now on the trees are survived, they would get a bumper production of the fruit.
According to Rajshahi DAE, a total of 17,465 hectares of land have been brought under mango cultivation in the district this year. Nearly 90 per cent of the trees of the district are bearing young green mangoes.
The target of mango production in the district has been fixed at 213,426 tonnes.
Last year, mango orchards were on 17,420 hectares of land in the district while in the previous year, mango orchards were on 16,961 hectares of land. Since a record amount of land has been brought under mango cultivation, there might be record in mango production this year as well.
Department of Agriculture has fixed a target of producing 15.58 tonnes of mango per hectare of land.
It is learnt, on February17, there was an unprecedented hail storm in Rajshahi district damaging a massive amount of tiny green mangoes.
The loss of green mangoes was the worst in Puthia upazila. But, the agriculture department sources informed, mango is a fruit of the season of storm, hail stones, scorching heat and rainfall.
Now the mango buds grow into tiny green mango and a matured mango gradually. They expressed the hope that there would not be severe damage of mango due to adverse weather condition because the recent rainfall of last week helped a smooth growth of the young green mangoes.
Mango orchard owners and mango farmers of the district were taking care of the green mangoes through various ways.
They poured water at the bottom of tree trunks before the flowering of the trees, sprayed insecticides on the leaves and now they were applying insecticides for the second time on young green mangoes so that those are not attacked by pests.
They informed, the early variety of mango will be ready to be plucked by the last week of April and thus pouring money in the pockets of the farmers and the mango orchard owners.

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