Buoyed by their success over the last three years, farmers Satkhira are all set to export mangoes produced in the district to the Europe this year, too.

Deputy Director of the district office of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) Arvinda Biswas said they have set a target to export 200 tonnes of mangoes of Himsagar, Langra and Amrupali varieties to European markets this season.

The mango export will begin within a couple of days, said sources at the local DAE office.

Mango consignments to the tune of 37 tonnes, 121 tonnes and 200 tonnes were dispatched to the Europe from the district in 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively.

Arvinda said they specially nurtured a total of 14,451 trees in the district to produce high quality mangoes to meet the export target.

He said the plucking of Himsagar, Langra mangoes of other varieties has already started while it will take 10 days to get Amrupali.

Himsagar is a delicious mango variety

which got the Geographical Indication (GI) tag as the third Bangladeshi product after Hilsa and Jamadani.

The DAE official said farmers have been asked not to collect immature mangoes and refrain from using any kind of chemical.

This year, mangoes were produced on a total of 4,100 hectares of land in the district with a production target of 47,000 tonnes, he said.

Farmers have already started marketing Gobindavog and Gopalvog mangoes, and the local markets, including Sultanpur Barabazar, Tala, Patkelghata, Nalta, Parulia, Kaliganj and Kolaroa, are abuzz with mangoes.

Ishaque, a mango trader of Satkhira municipality, said, “Wholesale mango traders from across the country are thronging different local markets to procure mangoes from here. Seven hundred tonnes of mangos are sent to different parts of the country from here every,” he said, adding that the volume will increase in the days to come.

Currently, mango is sold at Tk 30-35 per kg in the district.

Rabeya Basri Baishakhi of Shibpur area in Tala upazila said the mango production is higher than last year, and they are also getting higher prices this time.

After meeting local demands, the Himsagar is exported to many countries of the Europe and the Middle East strengthening the mango-related economy of the country.