Rangpur: After extensive flowering, formation of the tender ‘Haribhanga’ variety of mangoes continues smoothly now amidst favorable climate conditions, predicting a bumper harvest of the fleshy and highly delicious fruit this season. Officials and experts of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) are expecting a bumper harvest of Rangpur’s Geographical Indication (GI) product ‘Haribhanga’ mango, which has a huge demand in the country and abroad.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, amidst such predictions of a bumper harvest of the indigenous variety ‘Haribhanga’ mango this season, business activities will soon begin for marketing the fiberless, fleshy, and tasty seasonal fruit from next June. Meanwhile, the first 44 mm rainfall of the season recorded in Rangpur on Thursday morning is being considered a tonic for good growth of the tender ‘Haribhanga’ mango and its large size, which may bring good profits to the farmers this time.
Enthusiastic ‘Haribhanga’ mango farmers are now busy tending to their mango orchards and are dreaming of a bumper harvest and better profits like previous years. Fruit traders from Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayanganj, and other areas, along with local online mango traders, will soon gather to buy in advance ‘Haribhanga’ mangoes grown on orchard trees in Mithapukur upazila of Rangpur, the home of ‘Haribhanga’ mangoes.
Krishibid Md Shirajul Islam, Additional Director of the DAE for Rangpur agricultural region, said that after Thursday’s rains, the size and quality of ‘Haribhanga’ mangoes may improve further, which will be more profitable for farmers. Although all varieties of mangoes are cultivated in the Rangpur agricultural region, in recent years, the Haribhanga mango has gained commercial fame, changing the living standard of farmers and common people. “Haribhanga mango has already been recognized as a GI product of Rangpur, which has created a huge demand for it locally and internationally,” he said.
Farmers are generally producing around 38,000 tonnes to 40,000 tonnes of ‘Haribhanga’ mango from their orchards in over 2,556 hectares of land every year in all five districts of Rangpur agricultural region. “Of them, they produce about 30,000 tonnes of ‘Haribhanga’ mangoes from orchards in 1,950 hectares of land in Rangpur alone annually,” Krishibid Islam said, adding that farmers have brought little more land under its cultivation this season.
Dr. Md Abu Sayem, Deputy Director of the Burirhat Horticulture Center of the DAE in Rangpur, said that cultivation of ‘Haribhanga’ mango is expanding every year in Rangpur and other adjoining districts. The mango is largely being cultivated in Podaganj, Khoragachh, Paikarerhat, Rukniganj, Tekani, Moyenpur, Kadamtala, Lalpukur, Shukurerhat, Shikarpur, Phulchowki, Tilakpara, Kashimpur, Ucha Balua, Matherhat, and many other villages under Mithapukur upazila of Rangpur.
The highly tasty mango is also being cultivated in dozens of villages under Badarganj, Sadar, Pirganj, Gangachara, Taraganj, Pirgachha, and Kawnia upazilas of Rangpur district. Apart from this, cultivation of ‘Haribhanga’ mango is expanding fast in Parbatipur, Nababganj, Phulbari, Birampur, and Chirirbandar upazilas of Dinajpur district. The mango is also being cultivated on a commercial basis in dozens of villages under all other seven upazilas of Rangpur and other places of Gaibandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, and Nilphamari districts under the Rangpur agricultural region.
“If the weather is favorable and proper care is taken, there will be a good yield of ‘Haribhanga’ mangoes this season and good profits will be made,” Dr. Sayem said. While visiting several Haribhanga mango orchards in different villages of Rangpur, this BSS reporter found mango farmers busy watering the roots of the Haribhanga mango trees and sprinkling water on the tender mangoes on the trees.
Successful farmers Mostafizur Rahman, Nur Hossain, and Mohammad Morsalin of Podaganj village, Lutfar Rahman, and Amjad Hossain of Tekani village under Mithapukur upazila predicted a bumper Haribhanga mango yield this season. Abdur Rahim, a farmer from Paikarerhat village in the upazila, said that he has been earning huge profits and achieving self-reliance by cultivating the highly profitable ‘Haribhanga’ mangoes for the past 18 years. Md Habibur Rahman, a mango farmer from Lohanipara village in Badarganj upazila of Rangpur, said that he hopes that if the weather is favorable for the next two months, there will be a bumper harvest of ‘Haribhanga’ mangoes this season. Similarly, Abdus Salam from Akhirarhat, Jahangir Hossain, and Nur Islam from other villages said that they have achieved self-reliance by cultivating very tasty ‘Haribhanga’ mangoes in their gardens for the past two decades.