Dreams of Banana Mango farming by farmer Sagar
Mahidul Islam Ripon, Dinajpur
From a distance, it might suddenly seem like bananas are hanging in bunches from mango trees. But no, upon closer inspection, one would realize these are not bananas – they are indeed mangoes. However, due to their banana-like appearance, this variety has been named "Banana Mango." And it is farmer Sagar Chandra Debsharma of Satyamandangi village in Atgaon Union, Bochaganj Upazila, Dinajpur, who has commercially cultivated this "Banana Mango" for the first time.
Farmer Sagar Chandra Debsharma has drawn attention by cultivating "Banana Mango." Seeing his success, many farmers in the area are now getting interested in cultivating this variety. The agriculture department is working to encourage farmers to grow this improved mango variety.
Banana Mango (Kola Aam), being 100% chemical-free, is gaining demand and popularity worldwide.
It is known that Sagar Chandra Debsharma has been cultivating "Banana Mango" for the past three years. But this year, under the 'Program on Agricultural and Rural Transformation for Nutrition, Entrepreneurship and Resilience in Bangladesh (PARTNER)' project of the Bochaganj Upazila Agriculture Extension Department, he started cultivating pesticide-free mangoes following the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) guidelines. In his orchard, sex pheromone traps, yellow sticky traps, fruit bagging, organic pesticides, and full netting around the orchard have been used. As a result, mango production has been possible without using any chemical pesticides.
Farmer Sagar Chandra Debsharma said, "For the past three years, I had to spray a lot during mango season, which increased my costs. But even then, I didn’t get much yield. This year, with the help and guidance of the Bochaganj Upazila Agriculture Extension Department, I started pesticide-free mango cultivation. This reduced my expenses and increased my yield. I hope to earn more this year compared to last year. This method of mango cultivation is both cost-effective and healthy."
Bochaganj Upazila Agriculture Officer Nayan Kumar Shaha said, “To ensure safe food for the people of the country, we are implementing various fruit and vegetable demonstration plots under the PARTNER project following the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) guidelines. The Banana Mango variety is very tasty and suitable for export. Each mango weighs on average between 500 to 700 grams. We hope this agricultural entrepreneur will benefit from cultivating 'Banana Mango'.”
