After a long dry spell,  Chapainawabganj, known as the mango capital of the country, finally experienced rains on Sunday night, bringing much-needed relief to mango growers in the region.Several rounds of rain lashed different parts of the district from around midnight on Sunday, easing concerns among farmers who had been grappling with intense drought.Farmers said mango is the main cash crop of Chapainawabganj, and favourable weather at the beginning of the season had raised high hopes among growers.Trees had flowered abundantly but when the mangoes began to grow the dry spell and lack of rainfall caused stems to dry out, leading to premature fruit drop, they said.Farmers had been irrigating their orchards and spraying water manually in an effort to save their crops.Sunday’s rainfall has brought some relief, they said.Abdur Rakib, a mango farmer from Baliadanga in Sadar upazila, said the weather was favourable early in the season, which resulted in a good number of blossoms and subsequently, healthy young mangoes.“But later, the weather turned adverse. Due to drought and lack of rain, pests attacked the trees, and the stems dried up, causing many mangoes to drop prematurely,” he said. “This rain will help reduce pest infestation and strengthen the stems. Hopefully, fruit drop will now stop.”Kamrul Islam, another grower from Jamtala, said he had been irrigating his orchard to prevent the mangoes from falling. “We didn’t get much rain in our area, little rain feels like a blessing. It will help strengthen the stems and speed up fruit growth,” he added.Dr Yasir Ali, Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Chapainawabganj, said the district recorded around 2 millimetres of rainfall on average Sunday night. “It would have been better if the rainfall was heavier, but even this amount will benefit mango and litchi cultivation,” he said.According to the agriculture department, mangoes have been cultivated on 37,504 hectares of land in Chapainawabganj this season