Harvesting of the 'Guti' (Seed) variety of mangoes started in Rajshahi on Wednesday. The Guti mangoes are being sold in the markets of Rajshahi for the first time this season.
On Wednesday morning, many mango farmers were seen plucking 'Guti' variety of mangoes from various orchards of the city and the adjacent areas. However, the 'Guti' mangoes have not been fully ripened in many orchards of the district.
Only a few number of mango farmers and traders were seen plucking mangoes from the Kukhandi and Budhpara areas of the city. They said that the mango had not started to ripen in many other orchards.
Mango trader Shahadat Hossain said according to the directives of the Deputy Commissioner of Rajshahi, the plucking of Guti mangoes has been started from Wednesday morning. He would pluck mangoes and carry those to the local Baneswar hat to sell. However, he mentioned that he did not pluck too many mangoes on the first day.
Mango farmer Shamsuddin said the Guti variety of mangoes is being plucked from the Budhpara area of the city.
Later, they would pluck mangoes from three trees in the Rajshahi Court area.
He said that he had no idea about the price of mango in the market.
“Since it is the first day, I hope to get a satisfactory price for the seasonal fruit,” he said.
Earlier on May 12, the decision of plucking mangoes in the Rajshahi district were taken at a meeting held at the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Rajshahi where the high-ups from district administration, Police and agricultural departments were present.
According to the decision, the plucking and selling of Gopalbhoag and Rani Pasand varieties of mangoes will start from May 25, Lakhmanbhog, Himsagar, Khirsapat and Lakhna varieties from May 30, Langra and Banana varieties of mangoes from June 10, Amrapali and Fazley from June 15, BARI-4 from July 5, Ashina from July 10, Gourmoti from July 15 and Elamoti from August 20. Moreover, the Katimon and BARI-11 varieties of mangoes will be collected around the year.
Sabina Begum, Additional Deputy Director of the Rajshahi Department of Agricultural Extension said the plucking of Guti varieties of mangoes has been started in Rajshahi. Other varieties of mangoes will be plucked gradually.
According to sources, an estimated 260,315 metric tonnes of mangoes are likely to be harvested from 19,610 hectares of land this season. The average production of mangoes has been estimated to be 13.28 metric tonnes from a hectare of land.
