Shawdesh Desk:

Connoisseurs of mango can rejoice. The supple flesh of the pulpy fruit from Rajshahi are set to drive you mad soon, thanks to local growers who’ve started plucking their produce on Friday.

Like every year, the district administration fixed dates for mango plucking on the basis of their varieties, at a meeting on Thursday.

Muhammad Shariful Haque, additional deputy commissioner (revenue), said, The Guti variety can be plucked from Friday.”

“From May 20, the plucking of the Gopalbhog variety will begin. From May 25, Ranipachanda and Laxman Bhog or Lakhna can be plucked,” he said.

“Similarly, from May 28, the Himsagar or Khirsapat variety can be plucked. From June 6, the plucking of Langra is permitted. From June 15, Amrapali and Fajly varities can be plucked,” the official said.

From July 10, Aswina and BARI varities can be plucked and from July 15, the plucking of Gouramati is permitted, he added

“The dates have been fixed after discussions with researchers, officers of the agriculture department and farmers to ensure immature mangoes don’t flood the market. Action will be taken if immature mangoes are plucked before the fixed dates,” he said.

Mojdar Hossain, deputy director of Rajshahi Agricultural Extension Department, said, “Hopefully the mango harvest target of this year will be met.”

This year, mangoes have been harvested across 18,515 hectares of land in Rajshahi metropolitan area and nine upazilas. The production target has been fixed at 2,14,676 MT, with 11.59 MT from each hectare.