Naogaon new hub for mango, Pabna for litchi

[bluesky]

https://www.thedailystar.net/country/news/naogaon-new-hub-mango-pabna-litchi-1753639

10:36 AM, June 07, 2019 / LAST MODIFIED: 05:03 PM, June 07, 2019
Naogaon new hub for mango, Pabna for litchi

Naogaon has overtaken Chapainawabganj as the mango producing hub of Bangladesh

According to Department of Agricultural Extension, the total litchi production was more than 2.24 lakh tonnes with Pabna accounting for 48,800 tonnes and Dinajpur producing 29,046 tonnes. Photo: STAR
" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 24px !important; cursor: pointer; position: relative; display: table; z-index: 1;">

According to Department of Agricultural Extension, the total litchi production was more than 2.24 lakh tonnes with Pabna accounting for 48,800 tonnes and Dinajpur producing 29,046 tonnes. Photo: STAR

Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Chapainawabganj is no more the dominating hub for producing mangoes in Bangladesh and neither is Dinajpur for litchis.

Naogaon is now the country’s prime hub for mango harvest and Pabna for litchis – in terms of production of the two highest sought fruits in scorching Bengali summer.

But whether Chapainawabganj and Dinajpur have been stripped off their decades-long reputation in terms of quality and taste remains open to opinion.

Statistics from Bangladesh’s Department of Agricultural Extension shows that mango production in 2017-18 fiscal stood at over 23.7 lakh tonnes.

Naogaon alone produced over 3.33 lakh tonnes among them, far more than Chapainawabganj’s production of 2.74 lakh tonnes and Rajshahi’s 2.13 lakh tonnes.

Just a year before, in fiscal 2016-17, Chapainawabganj was the top producer with 2.44 tonnes. Naogaon was behind, producing only about 1.62 lakh tonnes.

Mango sellers in Chapainawabganj are seen passing lazy time as there are no buyers for mangoes in the local market. Photo: Star
" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: table; cursor: pointer; position: relative;">

Mango sellers in Chapainawabganj are seen passing lazy time as there are no buyers for mangoes in the local market. Photo: Star
Mehedi Masood, director of a DAE project on round-the-year fruit production, told The Daily Star that all the mango trees in Naogaon are young and high yielding hybrids. “Hence the surge in production.”

“On the other hand, in Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj, the mango orchards are old with older and of local varieties which bear fruits every other year. In Naogaon, most of the mango orchards are Amrapali variety which bears fruit every year,” he said.

The fruit expert also said, orchards in Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj typically have trees planted 10 yards apart but they are closer in Naogaon, just about 2.5 yards from each other.

In case of litchi, the situation began to change around 2007 when Pabna’s production began to rise above that of Dinajpur.

According to DAE, the total litchi production was more than 2.24 lakh tonnes with Pabna accounting for 48,800 tonnes and Dinajpur producing 29,046 tonnes.

Ketab Ali Mondal, one of the largest litchi producers of Pabna, told The Daily Star that commercial cultivation began in 1984, but became widespread since 2000.

“You will find at least one litchi tree at every house. Farmers are interested because of high profit. A single tree could earn at least Tk 1 lakh, which is not possible with any other crop,” he said.

Azhar Ali, deputy director of Pabna DAE, said litchi production is increasing every year. “This year around 5,000 hectares are under litchi cultivation. The estimated production for this year is 51,000 tonnes. But it is likely to be 20-30 per cent higher as the production is good.”

Mehedi Masood said Pabna litchis are of high yielding, whereas those in Dinajpur are traditional varieties. Currently, there are around 10 varieties of litchis being grown in Bangladesh.

Litchis from Pabna ripen faster than other areas and are available for longer as well. The main advantage of Pabna litchis is that the soil is perfect for it and there are fewer harmful pests and insects, he said.

 

[bluesky]

 

[Homo Sapiens]

This is a good development. As per the other news report, this growing fruits production in those districts are coming at the expense of Rice cultivation. We actually need somewhat to lower our rice acreage and devote those land to cultivate other crops. We can easily reduce rice field by 20% without hampering overall amount of rice production with better cultivation practice. Bangladesh is over producing rice and it's per capita consumption of rice is highest in the world. This need to be reduced and fill those calorie from additional amount of fish, meat, egg, milk, vegetables and fruits in diet.

 

[bluesky]

This is a good development. As per the other news report, this growing fruits production in those districts are coming at the expense of Rice cultivation. We actually need somewhat to lower our rice acreage and devote those land to cultivate other crops. We can easily reduce rice field by 20% without hampering overall amount of rice production with better cultivation practice. Bangladesh is over producing rice and it's per capita consumption of rice is highest in the world. This need to be reduced and fill those calorie from additional amount of fish, meat, egg, milk, vegetables and fruits in diet.

Although poultry farming has reached the stage of the industry but not cattle and dairy farming to produce meat and milk on a commercial scale. One reason is the shortage of wide farmlands where cattle can roam around. Another is the shortage of cattle fodder. So, rice cultivation acreage should be reduced and cow fodder should be produced in the surplus land to raise cattle.

The world is full of many varieties of fodders, such as maize (corn), peas, grass and even some special seasonal trees that can be grown in a hot and rainy climate. BD agriculture authorities should find out the suitable varieties for the BD climate. This is how the production of protein will rise helping the population to remain healthy.

 

[Homo Sapiens]

Although poultry farming has reached the stage of the industry but not cattle and dairy farming to produce meat and milk on a commercial scale. One reason is the shortage of wide farmlands where cattle can roam around. Another is the shortage of cattle fodder. So, rice cultivation acreage should be reduced and cow fodder should be produced in the surplus land to raise cattle.

The world is full of many varieties of fodders, such as maize (corn), peas, grass and even some special seasonal trees that can be grown in a hot and rainy climate. BD agriculture authorities should find out the suitable varieties for the BD climate. This is how the production of protein will rise helping the population to remain healthy.

Bangladesh can not spare much land for grazing, we are currently producing 4 million ton of maize, which is entirely being used as animal feed. We need to devote more land to cultivate maize and wheat(for human consumption). Additional fodder crop like Soybean should be imported to raise cattle in shed. If we can reduce rice field by 20 percent, at least several million ton of additional maize, wheat, vegetables and fruits can be grown.

 

[Nilgiri]

Although poultry farming has reached the stage of the industry but not cattle and dairy farming to produce meat and milk on a commercial scale. One reason is the shortage of wide farmlands where cattle can roam around. Another is the shortage of cattle fodder. So, rice cultivation acreage should be reduced and cow fodder should be produced in the surplus land to raise cattle.

The world is full of many varieties of fodders, such as maize (corn), peas, grass and even some special seasonal trees that can be grown in a hot and rainy climate. BD agriculture authorities should find out the suitable varieties for the BD climate. This is how the production of protein will rise helping the population to remain healthy.

Its best BD goes for vertical and intense farming where return on investment is best.

Pastoral farming method is bad use of resource for anywhere (large countries are only ones that can do it sustainably somewhat), but especially BD which is small and high population density.

Poultry farms are most you should look at for scaling up (given protein/profit return on dollar per square ft of land etc). BD can also come up with some more specific models for vertical farming of such....and maybe even do combined models where appropriate (i.e waste of one used insitu for farming of another output).