Staff Correspondent

Agriculture Minister Dr Abdus Shahid on Friday said India, China, Russia and Belarus are very much interested in importing mangoes produced in Rajshahi and in its vast Barind tract.

He also said a Chinese team will come to inspect Rajshahi's mangoes very soon.

The minister made the revelations while addressing a workshop titled "Water-efficient Futures: Scaling Agricultural Interventions in the Water-scares Barind Region" at Circuit House in Rajshahi as the chief guest.

With Additional Divisional Commissioner Imtiaz Hossain in the chair, the workshop was addressed, among others, by Programme Manager of World Bank Michael John Webster and Managing Director of the Coca-Cola Bangladesh Limited Ju-un Nahar Choudhury.

Later, the agriculture minister visited a mango orchard that utilises the “ultra-high density mango planting (UHDMP) method”, and shared views with farmers and others concerned at Kumorpur village under Godagari Upazila in Rajshahi.

On behalf of their Water Efficient Technologies to Barind Tract (IWET) project, DASCOH Foundation and Syngenta Foundation are promoting UHDMP method with financial support from the Coca-Cola Foundation and World Bank – benefiting 10,000 farmers directly, while 50,000 others indirectly since 2018.

Agriculture Minister Dr Abdus Shahid said mango production might decline this year. So, there is an apprehension of syndication centering the seasonal fruit. All concerned should remain alert in this regard so that the farmers can get their due price. "We don't allow any syndicate," he added.

He urged the journalists to furnish media reports against the syndication so that they could be brought to book as early as possible.