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RAJSHAHI, Mar 10 (BSS): With the departure of winter and the arrival of spring, thousands of mango trees have started sprouting buds massively in the greater Rajshahi region, the area known for its mangoes.
Agronomists, experts and farmers said that around 95 per cent of the mango trees had already sprouted buds as there was no rainfall during the winter this year. Winter's early departure may be another reason for such a massive flowering of the mango trees, they said.
Both the growers and the officials, however, predicted that the coming summer would be the 'off season' for mango production, likely to decline this year from the last year's level for natural reasons.
Regional Horticulture Research Centre (RHRC), Chapainawabganj, Chief Scientific Officer Anwar Habib said most of the mango trees in Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi and other neighbouring districts have produced flowers at the mercy of favorable weather, although the current season is the off-year for mango production.
Fruit Research Centre Senior Scientific Officer Shafiqul Islam said good weather enabled about 75 to 80 percent of the mango trees to blossom in the region. "The flowering began at the end of January and will continue until mid-March when all the mango trees will blossom," he said.
According to other officials, this year may witness a bumper production of mango if the weather remains favourable during the next few months.
Golam Murtoza of RHRC, however, attributed the main problems for probable decline in mango production this year to the fluctuation of temperature, excessive rainfall or fog, attack of pests and insects and inclement weather. "We are witnessing the young mango trees are more efflorescent than the senior ones," he said.
According to the statistics revealed by the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), there are around 2.5 million mango trees of different ages on some 20 thousand hectares of land in the region.
Mango, the leading seasonal cash crop of the northwestern region, commands the overall economy of especially Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj districts.
A large number of people are engaged in different jobs, from nursing to harvesting and packing of mango for transportation and trading during this particular season every year.
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