Rangpur, once famous for its tobacco farming, is now slowly becoming famous for its signature mango verities. Local farmers are expecting to sell mangoes worth Tk 200 crore this year. The desired variants of mangoes will be officially being sold from June 15. The date has been fixed by the district administration subject to discussions with mango farmers and traders.
Farmers say that the popular ‘Haribhanga’ mango originating from Mithapukur in Rangpur is a little later than the conventional mango. This mango has three days left to come to the market. However, despite the abundance of mango buds this time, the yield has been reduced due to cyclones and hailstorms.
Noting that the real taste of this mango is not usually found before the third week of June, the farmers said that this time the mango has ripened in advance due to frequent rains. At present, a huge livelihood cycle including garden owners and traders is being prepared in Mithapukur around the marketing of ‘Haribhanga’ mango in the market. Mango traders in different areas of Rangpur, a divisional city, including Padaganj Hat in Badarganj, are known as Mango Hats. At present the farmers of Rangpur are more inclined towards mango orchard than crop cultivation. The reason for this is that he has been cultivating various crops including paddy, potato, wheat and maize for several years and has incurred losses. Mango orchards are more profitable than that. Therefore, the number of mango orchards is increasing day by day. According to the Department of Agriculture, ‘Haribhanga’ mango has been cultivated in a garden of 1,006 hectares of land in Rangpur this time. Although the yield is slightly less than last year, it will produce 12 to 15 metric tons of mango per hectare.
It is said that a man named Sohrab Kasari of Unchabalua village of Mithapukur upazila used to work as a potter. One day he went to a ferry in an undivided Indian subcontinent to sell earthenware pots and collect a mango from one place. After bringing it home and eating it, he threw the mango seed in the back bush. The knot fell and fell on the pile of broken earthenware pots. A mango tree was born there. Gradually the seedlings grew. Compared to other conventional mangoes, that mango was incomparable in taste and smell, so there was a response among the villagers. Many people were looking for the name of the mango. In the end, the tree, which was born in a broken pot, hence the name 'Haribhanga'. Since then this mango has been known as ‘Haribhanga’ in the area.
It is learned that mango cultivation was started on a commercial basis in Mithapukur around 1986 with the first Haribhanga pen. Due to the unprecedented success of Abdus Salam of Akhira Hat village in this mango cultivation, he cultivates in the adjoining Padaganj, Paikarer Hat, Madrasa Para, Sarkar Para and especially in Mithapukur, especially Khoragach, Mainpur, Ranipukur, Changmari, Balua Masimpur, Milanpur, Barbara, Gopalpur and Som. Done. The number of mango farmers in Mithapukur has exceeded 15,000, who dream of surrounding Haribhanga.
On the spot, different areas of Mithapukur can be seen, mangoes are hanging in bunches on the trees of the mango orchards. It will be available for harvesting in a few days. The festive atmosphere seems to have been created by the busyness of the traders, garden owners and the people employed around the mangoes in collecting mangoes from the trees, orchard hills or supplying mangoes to different areas by truck. Abdus Salam has built 'Dayar Dan Amr Kanan' on 14 acres of land in Akhira Hat area. Mango farmer Abdus Salam said big traders from different parts of the country are coming to buy mango orchards in the area. Mentioning that his garden is also costing Tk 15 lakh, he added that some farmers sell their own mangoes without paying the traders. The main feature of ‘Haribhanga’ mango is that it is very sweet and has no fiber. However, this mango comes in the market in the third week of June. Meanwhile, traders from different parts of the country, including the capital Dhaka and the port city of Chattogram, are pre-booking orchards with advance money, he said.
Shahinul Islam Bakul, a hardworking youth, has cultivated ‘Haribhanga’ mango on six acres of land about one kilometer north of Jorgach Bazar in Mainpur Union. Numerous white and brown fruit bags are hanging on every tree in his garden in Nayapara, Agari, Jummapara area. There is no way to see the mango from outside. Every mango in the garden is in that bag. His mango orchard has gone up by tk 8 lakh so far. Bakul said that on an average, every bigha (50 per cent) of land is being sold in the mango orchard area for one lakh to one lakh 20 thousand Tk.
Kabir Mia, a mango farmer from Jarulpur, said he had sold his four-acre mango orchard for Tk 4 lakh. Visiting Hamidpur Fulchowki, Mainpur, Khamarbari villages, it is known that small mango orchards have also been sold for Tk 50,000 to Tk 100,000. Mango farmers Meherjan Mia, Zakir Hossain, Jasim Uddin, Habibur Rahman and several others from these villages said that every year about 50,000 people make a living by selling mangoes at different markets including Padaganj, Matherhat, Paiker Hat and Kadamtala Hat.
In this regard, Obaidur Rahman Mandal, Deputy Director, Department of Agricultural Extension, Rangpur, said that due to natural calamities, the yield of mangoes has decreased this year. However, there is a demand for this mango in the country and abroad. It has been decided to market this mango on June 15 after discussing with the mango growers. Therefore, mango growers are being requested not to market mangoes before the time fixed by the government.
