One after another natural calamity has affected the mango production this season. Although mangoes are expected to be available from the third week of the month (May), the presence of mangoes in the market has already been noticed.
Mango growers have already started harvesting mangoes from the trees to avoid natural disasters. Yet, they fear losses. Experts said that there might be a shortage of mangoes this year and the price can increase.
In addition, naturally if the mango is produced more in one year, the next year the mango production goes down. Last year was ‘On Year’ for mango production that is why the yield was higher. But this year mango production going through ‘Off Year’ schedule and production is likely to low.
The mango production was 24.90 lakh tonnes last year, this time the production target has been set at 24.60 lakh tonnes.
Department of Agriculture Extension’s (DAE) ‘Nutrition Development through Year-round Fruit Production Project’ Director Mehedi Masood said that last season, the country had produced 24.90 lakh tonnes of mangoes, but this time the production target has been reduced to 23.60 lakh tonnes.
He said mango production was good last year. This time it will be less due to natural reasons and hostile weather.
According to mango growers in many parts of the country, production of regular varieties of Langra, Gopalbhog and Fazli mangoes will be produced less as there was (on-year) good production last year. However, they will try to compensate the loss with Baromasi mango.
Cultivators of Satkhira district including Tala upazila of Satkhira District have harvested mangoes ahead of schedule due to fear of cyclone.
According to the Satkhira District Agriculture Extension Department, mango saplings have been planted on about 4,500 hectares of land in the district this year. There are 5,299 government registered mango orchards and 13,000 mango farmers in the district. But mango saplings have been planted on 715 hectares of land in Tala Upazila and there are more than 1300 mango orchards, according to the agriculture office.
According to the Rajshahi Agriculture Department, this time the target has been set to produce 217,000 tonnes of mangos on 18,515 hectares of land. However, the farmers said that the production would not be good this time as the weather is not favourable.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension, there is a possibility of Tk 901.64 crore worth of mango trade in Rajshahi this season.
Rajshahi University Professor of Agronomy and Agricultural Extension Md Gias Uddin Ahmed said, “Naturally, the current season is off-season for mangoes. Naturally, if there is a bumper production of mangoes in one year, the next year the mangoes will be less. But if the farmers get a good price this time, they will be able to make up their losses.”
This time it rained when the buds appeared at the end of winter. Besides, the heat suddenly comes down from the cold at that time. Early buds are damaged due to rain and fog. When the weather suddenly starts to get colder, new leaves emerge instead of buds.
According to the Agriculture Department in Naogaon, mango production is increasing in the district. This time mango has been cultivated on 29,475 hectares of land in this district and the production target has been set at 368435 metric tonnes. The estimated selling price of this mango will be around Tk 2,000 crore.
Govindabhog variety of mango has been sold in the market since last Thursday. There are allegations that many people were selling green Himsagar mangoes in the market.
