Farmers put freshly harvested mangoes into baskets in Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh, June 6, 2023. (Xinhua)
With Chinese methods of fruit bagging as an effective alternative to chemical pesticides, Bangladesh's mango growers can produce organic fruit and enjoy bumper harvest.
DHAKA, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Mangoes are growing abundantly across Bangladesh right now, but Chapainawabganj is the country's main mango-growing district and is popularly called the "Capital of Mango" in Bangladesh.
Chapainawabganj has also been famous in recent years for producing high-quality, chemical-free mangoes by using Chinese methods.
Local mango growers said favorable weather conditions and the use of Chinese methods have helped yield a bumper production. Chinese fruit bagging is gaining popularity among mango growers as an effective alternative to chemical pesticides.
This photo taken on June 6, 2023 shows a mango orchard in Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh. (Xinhua)
Yakub Ali Milon, a mango trader, said that they have to import these packets from China.
"The mangoes we tested (in these packets) are better. Insects can't attack the fruit because of this packet," said the trader, adding that if they use the packets, they don't need to use pesticides.
Because of Chinese packets, he said they are able to provide organic mangoes to buyers even though the price of this packet is a bit higher.
A farmer harvests mangoes in Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh, June 6, 2023. (Xinhua)
While mangoes in gardens are now hanging on tree branches filling the entire region with the scent of mangoes, fruit markets in the district and elsewhere in the region are brimming with lovers of the juicy fruit, as well as exporters and traders, while truckloads of the summer cash crop have started reaching elsewhere in the South Asian country and beyond.
Workers like Ariful Islam, a local mango grower and trader, are busy packing Chinese-style mangoes in bamboo baskets to take them to the bazaar on cycle vans.
This photo taken on June 6, 2023 shows baskets of mangoes at a wholesale market in Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh. (Xinhua)
"In this mango season, I've worked for three to four months to earn for the whole year, and I have 10 other workers working here," Islam told Xinhua recently at Kansat mango market in Chapainawabganj, which is the largest mango bazar in Bangladesh.
In Chapainawabganj alone, Bangladesh's Department of Agricultural Extension said the fruit was cultivated on 37,000 hectares of land this year, with the production target set at 400,000 tons.
Mango growers and agriculture officials are expecting sales of the mouthwatering fruit to be worth about 80 billion taka (about 744,000 U.S. dollars) this season from May to August. ■
