Though there was a huge blossoming of mango buds in almost all grown trees of Rajshahi and Chapainwabganj district early this year, most of those mango buds fell away due to the impact of climate change. The Agro-scientists in Rajshahi predict less mango production this year.
They termed this is the 'Off Year' for mango.
According to Horticulture Reseach Centre in Rajshahi, this year is ' Off Year' for mango production. That is why despite the satisfactory blossoming of mango flowers, there was scanty of young mangoes in the trees. Almost all grown trees of the districts Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Natore and Naogaon where quality mangoes are produced, are without mangoes.
According to a report of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics(BBS), in Bangladesh mango is cultivated on 61,885 hectares of land out of which more than 25,000 hectares are cultivated in Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj districts only. A total of 662,100 metric tons of mangoes on average are produced every year.
It is learnt, farmers of mango growing region are taking care of the mango buds. They are spraying insecticides at the sprouting mango buds and pouring water at the roots of the trees to ensure a good yield. Still, the mango farmers and mango orchard owners are deeply worried about the prolonged fog and untimely rainfall which they think would hamper the growth of mangoes.
The sudden increase of day temperature has been nearly 35 to 40 degrees Celsius during the recent weeks is also worrying for the mango farmers.
Abdullah and Mainul Islam of village Pirijpur under Godagari upazila informed, they have jointly taken a lease of some 10 bighas of Mango orchards at Taka 300,000 and were taking care of the trees from before the sprouting the mango flowers. But, this year, the weather conditions seem weird and they are deeply disappointed at the less flowering of mango buds. Though some trees flowered, no young mango appeared from those flowers. The Horticulture Research Centre Officials in Rajshahi also termed such climatic conditions precarious and said, under such weather conditions, the smooth growth of mango would hamper badly and the production of mango in the district is likely to face a setback.