ANM Mohibub Uz Zaman, Dhaka: Summer fruits including mangoes, litchi, jackfruit and blackberry have arrived in the city market during the peak harvesting season.
Shelves in fruit shops are now filled with summer fruits, most of which are incredibly tasty for their succulent, juicy, soothing, sweet test.
But the fresh and delicious fruits remain out of reach for many consumers as the prices of the summer fruits are higher than the previous years.
In different fruit shops at Mohammadpur, Mirpur, Kawranbazar, Kuril and Vatara, Himsagar mango was selling at Tk 80-120 per kg, Langra at Tk 90-110 per kg, Amrupali at TK 90-120 per kg and litchi was selling at Tk 250-350 per 100 pieces.
The price of those mango varieties was Tk 50-60 per kg in the previous year.
Md. Ripon, a mango trader in Pallabi, said the price of mango is higher this year as they have to buy the item at much higher rates.
He also said the number of customers is thin this year compared to the previous years.
Md Nazrul Islam, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) of Chapainawabganj, told the Daily Sun that this year’s production of mango is 20 percent lower than last year.
“Prolonged winter, inclement weather and no rain for a long time are the factors behind the fall in production,” he said.
He said price of different kinds of mango is Tk 60-70 per kg at the mango producing hubs in the country.
Different kinds of fruits have created a festival mood on the middle of “Modhumash” with juicy fruits in the market.
Mango, litchis, jackfruit, guava, Java plum (jaam), watermelon, musk melon, papaya, pineapple, latkon, different varieties of berries and other juicy fruits have already appeared on the market.
Tropical fruits such as mangoes, litchi, dragons, banana, melons and different kinds of berry are the best choice for people during a hot, sultry day. The fresh versions of these fruits are only available once a year.
The government fixed mango harvesting timeframe for the mango farmers according to the ripening time of different types of mangoes in different area has reduced the adulteration of the popular fruit.
The country produced 25 lakh tonnes of mango in FY 2020-21. Of the total production, 9.48 lakh tonnes were produced in three districts – Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi and Naogaon, according to DAE.
A total of 70 different types of fruit are being produced in the country with mango remaining at the top of fruit production followed by banana. A total 56 varieties of fruits were cultivated in Bangladesh about a decade ago, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
Bangladesh has topped other countries to increase its fruit cultivation land by 10 per cent per year despite its limited geographical area.
The others growing fruits are Java plum (jaam), litchi, jujube, lemon, pineapple, watermelon, lotkon (Burmese grape), star fruit (kamranga), papaya, wood apple, custard apple, sapodilla (safeda) and melon.
