UNB, Jhalakathi :
Good yield and reasonable price of various high yielding varieties of mango have brought smile to the face of the growers in the district this year.
Besides, the mango varieties like Amrapali, Mohanbhog, Mallika and Rupsha of the northern region have drawn attention of the buyers and are meeting local demand of the fruit widely.
Talking to the UNB correspondent, a number of growers said the high yielding mango varieties of the northern region are being cultivated on commercial basis on about 200 acres (one acre is equivalent to 100 decimals) of land in the district over the last few years.
There are big mango orchards, each of which covers areas ranging from two to six acres.
The biggest mango orchard was set up on six acres of land in Paota village in Nalchity upazila where there are 475 trees of different mango varieties under Al-Amin Agro Fisheries Project.
Eight mango varieties including Amrapali, Himsagar, Mallika and Gopalbhog are being cultivated in the orchard made by Mintu Mridha of Paota village seven years back.
The orchard owner said he has got yield within three years of the cultivation, adding that he did not get expected yield only for lack of proper care.
Later, taking advice from local officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), he has given due attention to the fruit cultivation which resulted in its good yield.
Mintu Mridha said he gets 20-30 kg mangoes from each of 475 trees in the six-acre orchard.
Mintu Mridha’s son Shihab Mridha who supervises the mango orchard said they have got good yield of mango this year despite prolonged drought-like situation during growth stage of the fruit. “We sprayed water and use pesticides to keep buds in trees,” he added.
Asked about the fruit prices, he said harvested mango is also selling at Tk 70 per kg from the orchard.
Worker of the garden M Sharif said they are to pluck mangoes from trees everyday for selling those to the buyers.
He claimed that mangoes of their orchard are free from toxic chemical formalin due to which a large number of people are buying the mangoes produced in the orchard.
During visit to different areas of the district, this correspondent found that various mango varieties of northern region are being sold at fruit shops and on vans beside roads.
However, there is no presence of local varieties of mangoes as prolonged draught- like situation seriously affected their production.
