Mango growers eye good yield as trees in full bloom

With budding in the full swing, mango orchards in Rangpur and Dinajpur districts are spreading sweet smell during the Bangla month of Falgun while the fruit growers pass a busy time nursing the trees.

Around 90 percent of the mango trees have already flowered and the growers are expecting a bumper yield if the weather goes well in the coming days.

Haribhanga mango of Rangpur and Dinajpur is very popular for its unique taste.

Other popular varieties like Khirshapati, Mohna, Rajbhog, Rupali, Amrapali, Langra, Gopalbhog, Surjapuri, Asiyana, Chhatapara, Fazli, Chini Falzli, Surmai and Misribhog are also produced widely in the two districts.

Harvesting of this fragrant juicy fruit will start in mid-April (Boishakh, first month of Bangla calendar) and continue till early October, said the growers.

Varieties of the fruit are available for around six months, said mango grower Akbar Ali of Biral upazila.

There are about 7,100 large and small mango orchards in Dinajpur and Rangpur districts.

The cultivation and trade of the popular fruit is a blessing for rural economy as it creates job employment and business opportunities for a large number of people every season.

According to the Department of Horticulture, over one lakh tonnes of mango was produced in Dinajpur and Rangpur districts last year and there was mango was trade worth Tk 450 crore.

Although the fruit is produced everywhere in the two districts, the mangoes of Nawabganj upazila of Dinajpur and those, especially of Haribhanga variety, of Badarganj and Mithapukur of Rangpur, are noted for their taste and aroma, said growers and traders.

Growers said they are watering properly and spraying medicines to prevent damage of the flowers.

Proliferation will be affected if there is rain during this flowering time, they said.

Ramzan Ali, a mango grower of Badarganj upazila in Rangpur, said all the trees of his seven-acre mango orchard are in full bloom.

“We are expecting good yield this year if the weather remains favorable,” he said.

“I earned good profit last year from my mango orchard. I am expecting more yield this season if I can save the flowers through proper nursing. And of course, we need a favourable weather,” said Shahinul Islam Bokul of Mithapukur upazila of Rangpur.

There are 1,200 Haribhanga mango trees in his orchard.

Soil and weather in the area are favourable for mango, said Imrul Ahsan, a horticulturist of Dinajpur.

Sazedul Islam, an officer of the Department of Agriculture Extension in Rangpur, said the area of mango orchards sees increase in the district every year as the cultivation earns good profit.