Another home of delicious mangoes in the making

The soil of the area, like Chapainawabganj in Rajshahi, is suitable for raising mango orchards.

About 300 farmers are raising 325 small and big gardens in the village. Starting two years ago, most of the farmers there plucked considerable quantities of the sweet fruit this year, according to farmers and officials of Kewatkhali Horticulture Centre (KHC) who are supervising their work with great interest.

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"Anandipur will turn into a famous village for mango production and we hope it will be the second Chapainawabganj", Abu Md. Enayel Ullah, Assistant Horticulturist at KHC told The Daily Star during a recent visit to the village.

"We initiated Amrapali (a delicious variety of sweet mango) cultivation in the village in 2002 by distributing saplings to some farmers under a nutrition project of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE). Each farmer was given 10 to 12 saplings".

"We were encouraged by their keen interest and our project to adjacent Bhawanipur and Char Haripur villages. But Anandipur farmers are leading", he said.

Director General of DAE Md. Ibrabim Khalil who launched the nutrition programme through 15 horticulture centres in the country also visited Anandipur village.

The KHC so far distributed 20,000 Aamrapali saplings and fertiliser to farmers in Mymensingh Sadar upazila for free. Most of the recipients are from Anandipur village.

"We also trained 800 farmers in mango cultivation in the last two years", said KHC sources.

A marginal farmer can easily earn Tk 5000 to 6000 by planting 12 Amrapali variety at his homestead, they said. He can earn more by selling cuttings from twigs in mother plants. A cutting is sold between Tk 50 and 60 in local markets.

Shakhina Begum, 40, wife of Abdur Rahman of Anandipur village, told this correspondent that she is expecting to earn Tk 5000 by selling her Amrapali mango from 12 trees this year. The trees were planted two years back. Mother of four children, Shakhina, a marginal farmer, sees mango cultivation as very profitable.

Poor housewives Runa and Noorjahan in the village also expressed similar hopes, saying mango cultivation could change their lot.

KHC Supervisor official Idris Ullah who looks after the project in the three villages said they are very encouraged seeing the enthusiastic participation of farmers including women in the training and nursing their small gardens.