As the winter season ends, hundreds of mango trees have started flowering in Kalaroa upazila of Satkhira, displaying the possibility of an excellent production of the most popular fruit in the region this season.
The huge blooming of mango trees has spread a sweet scent in every corner of the upazila. Farmers are expecting a bumper production if the climatic conditions remain favourable till its harvesting period. Since the weather has been favourable from the beginning of the season, all the mango trees have already bloomed. However, small and medium-sized mango trees have more flowers than large ones, locals said.
Mango cultivation is gradually increasing in the upazila due to the simple cultivation method and relatively less maintenance. Different varieties of mangoes, including Himsagar, Gopalbhog, Govindabhog, Amrapali and Langra, are cultivated in the upazila.
According to the sources of the Kalaroa Upazila Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), this year Himsagar mango was cultivated on 330 hectares, Langra on 104 hectares, Amrapali on 156 hectares, Govindsbhog on 52 hectares, others (local) on 13 hectares of land. The upazila has a total of 1640 mango orchards including 620 Himsagar orchards, 350 Langra orchards, 440 Amrapali orchards and 160 Govindabhog orchards.
Farmers in Keralkata, Chandanpur, Sonabaria, Helatala, Kushadanga, Jogikhali unions and municipalities are hoping that the production will exceed the target this year.
Although almost all mango trees have already started flowering in the early spring but Nabi variety mangoes will take a few more weeks to blossom.
The mango orchard owners said that they have started taking care of the trees and spraying the necessary medicines as per the advice of the local agriculture department to protect against the attack of bud disease and insects.
Subhrangshu Shekhar Das, an agricultural officer of Upazila DAE, said the farmers have been caring and taking measures to make mango farming successful everywhere. The farmers are keeping in contact with the agriculture officers at the field levels to control the possible attacks by hoppers and some other pest attacks on the mango flowers.
Last year, mango export was disrupted due to numerous issues such as low market price and high production cost, he said. “Besides, an adequate number of cold storage and packaging houses are required to ensure timely mango export. This year, mango orchards are yet to be selected for export.”