Today, Agriculture Minister will inaugurate the GI Product Harivanga Mango Fair and Exhibition at Padaganj School Ground

Today, June 21, Friday at 3 pm, the delicious Harivanga mango of Mithapukur Upazila of Rangpur, a traditional town in Uttara Janpad, has recently been recognized as a GI product by the Government of India.

Agriculture Minister will inaugurate this year's Harivanga Mango Fair and Exhibition-2024 at Padaganj School and College Ground. D. Md. Abdus Saheed MP. Public leader Zakir Hossain Sarkar MP, member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture Ministry will be present as a special guest. Organized by the Rangpur district administration, Rangpur District Commissioner Mobaswer Hasan will preside over the fair. Mithapukur UNO Bikash Chandra Barman, Harivanga mango discoverer and spreader Alhaj Abdus Salam Sarkar and mango farmers will speak.

Rangpur's Harivanga mango, recognized as a GI product with an incomparable taste and smell, is officially being marketed from June 20.
Talking to the agriculture department and mango farmers, it is known that ripe potted mangoes will be available in the market from the last week of this month. Even if potted mangoes are available in the market before this, they will be unripe. A class of unscrupulous traders are breaking the rules and selling unripe potted mangoes in the market hoping for a little higher price.
According to the information provided by Rangpur Agricultural Extension Department, mango cultivation has been done in 3 thousand 335 hectares of land in Rangpur district this year. Out of this, potted mango cultivation has been done in 1 thousand 905 hectares of land. The target of mango production this year is 29 thousand 710 metric tons.
Nutritious and ripe harivanga shells have a sweet and sour aroma.

The characteristic of Harivanga mango from Khoragach area of ​​Mithapukur upazila of Rangpur is that it is pulpless, sweet and delicious. The stem of this mango is also very small. Bark is thin. Each mango weighs 200 to 300 grams. On February 12 this year, Harivanga mango Rangpur got the recognition of Geographical Indication or GI product from the Government of India.
. At the beginning of the season, the price of pottery is slightly higher as the demand is high. In that case, the farmers said that per kg of broken pots can be sold at the rate of 80 to 100 taka per kg depending on the size. The price will be a little higher in the retail market. The agriculture department thinks that the sale of potted mangoes in Rangpur may exceed Tk 150 crore this time. Last year it was over 200 crore rupees.

On Thursday morning in Mithapukur upazila of the district, mango orchards can be seen on the ground, mangoes are hanging from trees among the green leaves. Farmers said that compared to the last few years, mango pods have come less this year and the roots of mangoes have dried up and fallen off due to drought.

The main market for potted mangoes in Rangpur is Padaganj Hat in Khoragach Union of Mithapukur. It is a wholesale market. Bargharia Sardarpara village mango grower and Harivanga mango discoverer and spreader Alhaj Abdus Salam Sarkar said that Harivanga mango orchard has been planted on 14 acres of land. Out of this, 5 acres of mango orchard has been cultivated as companion crop. Amchashi Mehedi Hasan of Padaganj has a mango orchard on more than 14 acres of land. He said that he took extra care of the mango tree during adverse weather conditions and extreme heat. But due to lack of timely rain, the size of the mangoes has been reduced. It is expected that the mango yield will be slightly less.

Ranipukur of Khoragach is a sugarcane garden on the two and a half acre land of Amchashi Abdul Alim of Moinpur village. He said that although the yield is low, potted mangoes have a huge demand across the country. This time the price will be good.
Mango farmers said that this year, due to untimely rains during the budding of mangoes during Paush-Magh months, the garden has suffered some damage. He has been attacked by insects in the mango tree during the continuous heat wave of April-May. As a result, the mango pulp has fallen. Pesticides and irrigation as much as possible by the farmers did not work much to control the insects. The mango farmers of Rangpur fear that the mango production will decrease as a result.

The potted mango tree grows to a height of about five to six meters. About 100 seedlings per acre can be planted at 15 feet spacing.

Deputy Director of Rangpur Agricultural Extension Department Md. Riaz Uddin told Daily Voice of Asia reporter Abdul Halim, there is a risk that the yield of potted mangoes will decrease due to intense sunshine and lack of timely rain. But the good thing is that there was no wind in Rangpur.

Mango prices are good this time. Farmers of Rangpur will also get good prices.
Deputy Commissioner of Rangpur Mohammad Mobashwer Hasan said, after talking to the agriculture department and farmers, the time for planting potted mangoes has been fixed from June 20. In order to avoid any kind of difficulty in the marketing of potted mangoes, regular monitoring has been undertaken by law enforcement agencies.