Mango crop to improve

Manas R Banerjee

MALDA Feb. 9: Despite continuous fog, rain and cloudy weather, Malda is expected to have a better mango crop production this year. The experts confirmed the same. “Though bad weather has affected the mango flowers, forming fungus, it would not damage its final production. We expect a production of 2.5 lakh metric tons of mango this year compared to last year’s 1.9 lakh metric tons,” said Mr SN Khara, Malda mango development officer. According to the mango development officers, almost 60 per cent flowering is over for the early variety of mangoes. “The rest of the flowering is also expected to be complete in another two weeks’ time,” they said. The mango development officials are also educating the mango farmers on how to make the best use of the conditions. The mango farmers have been advised against the usage of any chemical to kill fungus in the cloudy weather. Only water spray has been suggested to save the mango flowers. The officials have also named the two ingredients that farmers can use for a rich harvest. “The mango farmers can spray carbendazim (one gm per litre water) for nourishment in sunny weather and carbaril as pesticide (two gms per litre),” the officials have suggested. The department organised a seminar on mango production and export development at Malda mango pack house and multipurpose cold storage at English Bazaar yesterday. The Malda zilla parishad sabhadhipati Mr Goutam Chakraborty yesterday inaugurated the implementation of themango production and infrastructure development project for export under the National Horticulture Mission (NHM) handing over cheques to a few selected applicants. It may be noted that the NHM has allotted Rs 12 crore in the last two financial years for the development of mango and litchi production and infrastructure development for export. At present the Malda district has 25,500 hectares of land under mango cultivation and a small part of it has been selected for the production of export quality mangoes and litchis. Mainly farmers at Amriti in English Bazaar, Mathurapur and Nazirpur in Manikchak and Pukuria in Ratua cultivate mango using bio-fertiliser.