e-News® | The NEWS Company…RANGPUR, July 20, 2015 : Speakers at two separate sapling distribution ceremonies here have stressed for expanded cultivation of the highly fleshy, fibreless and tasty local variety Haribhanga mango to bring economic self-reliance. There is a huge export potential of Haribhanga mango as thousands of farmers have already achieved economic self-reliance through its commercial basis cultivation so far in the district, they said. The Dhaka-based Pirganj (Rangpur) Samity organised the ceremonies in Shanerhat and Jahangirabad unions under Pirganj upazila on Sunday afternoon for distribution of Haribhanga mango saplings among 1,000 extremely poor people of the two unions.
Chairman Mesbahur Rahman of Shanerhat union presided over the first ceremony at his union parishad premises while President of Jahangirabad union Awami League (AL) AKM Khairul Islam Lavlu presided over the next one at Jahangirabad High School ground respectively. Director General of Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) Dr Rafikul Islam Mandal attended the ceremonies and distributed the Haribhanga mango saplings as the chief guest.
Former Petrobangla Chairman Dr Mokbul-E-Elahi Chowdhury, General Secretary of Dhaka-based Pirganj (Rangpur) Samity and Professor of the Department of Applied Mathematics of Dhaka University Dr Shawkat Ali, Vice-presidents of the Samity Modabberul Islam Shaju and Takiya Jahan Chowdhury, its Executive Committee Member and Special Correspondent of ATN Bangla Keramat Ullah Biplob and Agriculturist Abdul Mannan Bhashani attended the ceremonies as the special guests.
Former General Secretary of Pirganj upazila AL Khalilur Rahman Mandal, President of Pirganj Press Club Moksed Ali and its General Secretary ATM Mazharul Alam Milan also attended the ceremonies. The speakers expressed huge satisfaction over increasing cultivation and production of the prospective local variety Haribhanga mango that has changed fortune of thousands of farmers and has huge export potential. The chief guest called upon the sapling recipient local people for planting the distributed samplings on their homesteads and properly nursing those to have fruit production within the next three years.
He asked the concerned officials and experts for further expanding and popularising cultivation of Haribhanga mango through disseminating the latest technologies among the farmers and providing them knowledge for better agronomical managements. It may be mentioned that over 6,200 farmers and commoners have cultivated Haribhanga mango in 4,100 small, medium, big orchards and homesteads on 5,700 hectares land this season in Pirganj, Mithapukur, Badarganj and Sadar upazilas alone in the district. According to the Department of Agriculture Extension sources, the farmers are expecting to produce 21,500 tonnes of the mango worth Taka 135 crore this season in the district as its harvest is nearing completion now with excellent production.
