By Mala Karna
Saptari, Mar. 11: The Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Rajbiraj informed that there are around a million mango trees in 5,450 hectares of land in Saptari alone.
The mango trees in the district are of different varieties; 60 per cent Malda, 20 per cent Kalkatiya, 15 per cent Bombay and five per cent of other types. For many, mango trees have been a source of proper economic support.
While people sell grown mangoes in the market and also transport them to different places across the country, the locals here also sell the mangoes before the trees even bear fruits.
A mango tree bears flower before fruits and the quantity of mango production from a tree is based on the size and number of flowers. Based upon the flower and an oral calculation of expected number of mangoes, the flowers and trees are sold by owners to different individuals.
Just like the previous years, people in Saptari have begun to visit different orchards to confirm future mangoes by buying flowers or trees with a considerable amount.
However, this year, mango farmers argued that there were not much flowers in the trees.
“With few flowers in the trees, the price has gone higher. Previously, more than enough mangoes had been cultivated but this year, it has been completely different,” said Kalamuddin, a local businessman who has been buying and selling mangoes under the similar process for many years.
Nevertheless, an individual needs to take care of the bought flowers or mango trees by oneself and the production will be based on the individual’s effort.
When asked about why they were selling flowers and trees of mango before they even budded, farmers informed that they didn’t have the capacity to take care of all the mango trees in the orchards by themselves.
“There are many mango trees in an orchard which are difficult to be taken care of by few hands. We don’t even find people to work in the orchards due to which we sell the mangoes before they yield fruits to others who need to take care of their share themselves,” said Sahansha Alam, a mango farmer in Saptari.
After buying the flowers or trees, the buyer takes care of it; if the care isn’t adequate, the mangoes borne are not much good for consumption.
“We need to buy the flowers or trees, alongside taking care of the orchard ourselves, to ensure we have mangoes to sell in the market during the season,” said Kalamuddin.
While farmers face trouble in tending the mangoes properly due to lack of manpower, the local businessmen are bound to buy the mangoes in earlier (flower) stage and take care of them themselves.
Even after selling many mango trees and flowers to others, the farmers are still left with several trees of which they need to take care themselves.
“We sleep all night in the orchards to look after the mangoes but we lack manpower to take care of the trees properly and ensure quality yield. We are left with no proper support to take care of the mango trees,” said Alam.
Amidst the lack of manpower and necessary concern from the authorities to assist the mango farmers, they fear whether the mango production would decline every year. The situation of the mango farmers in Saptari is similar to the farmers in Siraha, Dhanusha, Sunsari, Sarlahi, Bara, Parsa and Rautahat.