Mango trading has gained momentum in Chapainawabganj as the season approaches its end, with large numbers of buyers and sellers gathering at major markets across the district.
At Kansat, the district’s largest mango market, trading of late-season and year-round varieties—including Ashwina, BARI-4, BARI-8, Gaurmati, Banana and Katimon—is continuing in full swing.
Thousands of maunds of mangoes are being traded at the market every day, while buyers and sellers remain active despite the season being in its final stage.
Speaking at Kansat market on Tuesday morning, mango grower Hasibul Hasan Babu of Binodpur union in Shibganj upazila said the season was almost over. He said he sold Ashwina mangoes for Tk 3,800 per maund that day, but the price was not satisfactory considering production costs.
Another grower, Monirul Islam of Durlabhpur union, sold BARI-4 mangoes for Tk 7,000 per maund. He said the variety used to fetch a much higher price several years ago. Although prices have improved somewhat recently, growers failed to receive their expected returns at the beginning of the season, he added.
Mango grower and media worker Farhad Ali brought Katimon mangoes to the market and sold them for Tk 6,000 per maund. While he was relatively satisfied with the price, he also expressed disappointment over the overall market situation this year.
Abdur Razzak, a trader involved in online mango trading for a long time, said prices had increased slightly toward the end of the season. However, the market remained unstable throughout the year. Traders like him still managed to make profits, he said.
Grower Abul Hasnat said Shibganj produces more mangoes than the district’s other four upazilas combined. He recalled that Fazli once accounted for nearly 80 percent of the orchards in the area.
In recent years, however, newer varieties such as Banana, Katimon, Amrapali and BARI-4 have increasingly entered the market around the time Fazli mangoes are harvested. As a result, demand for these newer varieties has risen during the late Fazli harvesting period, putting downward pressure on Fazli prices, he said.
Sentu Mia, a mango grower from the Maharajpur area of Sadar upazila, said he had been involved in mango cultivation for nearly two decades.
“Mango farming was profitable about 10 years ago, but growers have struggled to earn satisfactory returns in recent years,” he said. “Production costs have increased, but mango prices have not risen proportionately.”
Abu Taleb, president of the Shibganj Mango Aratdar Association, said the livelihoods of more than 100,000 people in Chapainawabganj were linked to the mango industry.
Production costs are rising every year, but growers are not receiving prices that adequately reflect those increases, he said.
He warned that the district’s mango industry is facing a serious threat and called for the development of mango processing industries, stronger agricultural research and the establishment of a full-fledged mango research institute to ensure the sector’s long-term sustainability.
Meanwhile, mangoes at Kansat, Rohanpur and other markets in the district are currently selling at around Tk 2,000-Tk 5,000 per maund for Ashwina, Tk 8,000-Tk 12,000 for BARI-4, Tk 5,000-Tk 7,000 for Gaurmati, Tk 5,000-Tk 8,000 for Katimon and Tk 12,000-Tk 15,000 for Banana varieties.
According to Atikul Islam, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Chapainawabganj, mangoes were cultivated on 37,487 hectares of land in the district this season, with a production target of 458,912 metric tonnes.
He said supplies of several varieties, including Ashwina, Gaurmati, Banana and BARI-4, were continuing even as the mango season entered its final stage.
