Gourmati offers new hope for mango growers

A new variety of mango, Gourmati or BARI Mango-12, is winning farmers over as it promises them higher profits, being the last of the varieties to arrive at the market during the coveted mango season.

It has also gained popularity among consumers, who are now able to get the summer fruit till the end of September without having to opt for imported ones. The other varieties usually run out by the first week of the month.

Farmers have been growing Gourmati for the past four to five years, and selling it at higher prices due to its good quality. The variety is developed naturally as a mutation of Langra and Ashwina mangoes in Chapainawabganj's Shibganj upazila since 2012.

Imports of the fruit to Bangladesh have dropped largely over the years due to the success of this variety.

Serazul Islam, president of Bangladesh Fresh Fruits Importers Association, said, "Mango import has almost stopped for the last three-four years due to the good production of late variety mangoes in Bangladesh. Now, the markets are full of homegrown good mangoes for six months at a stretch."

Earlier, during August-September, some mangoes would be imported from Thailand, but with high import duty. They cannot compete with our good quality late varieties any longer, he said.

Expressing satisfaction, Palash Sarkar, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Chapainawabganj, one of the largest mango-producing districts, said the orchards dedicated to growing the variety have been expanding and production is going well.

Currently, cultivation of this mango has been expanded to a small extent in the northern regions -- Naogaon, Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi, and Natore.

According to the DAE, 30,000 hectares of mangoes have been cultivated in Naogaon this year. Gourmati was cultivated in around 145 hectares of those, said the district's DAE Deputy Director Abul Kalam Azad.

Sohel Rana, a grower in the Naogaon's Sapahar upazila, cultivated Gourmati on 35 bighas of land in 2018. This year, he expects over 1,000 maunds, worth around Tk 80 lakh as per the current market price.

He said the prices of other varieties usually range from Tk 1,200 to Tk 3,000 per maund. "But Gourmati's price ranges from Tk 6,000 to Tk 16,000 per maund, allowing farmers to profit at least four or five times more than usual."

On the other hand, he said, Gourmati sees higher yield than other varieties.

"Each bigha yields around 50-60 maunds of Amrupali, Langra, Khirsa and Himsagor. But we get around 70-100 maunds in the case of Gourmati. However, as the mangoes need to be kept in the orchards for long time and require bagging, the production cost too is at least Tk 10,000 higher compared to other varieties." 

Md Raihan Siddique, another grower in Naogaon's Porsha upazila, cultivated Gourmati in 80 bighas of land.

"The Gourmati variety can change the fortune of mango farmers. My advice to new farmers is to pick Gourmati for cultivation if they want to stay in the business."

Md Kamrul Islam, principal scientific officer at Regional Horticulture Research Station (previously known as mango research Centre), said, "The mango season would start in May and end in July. But since the introduction of the previous late varieties – Ashwina and BARI-4 – the time would be stretched till the first week of September. However, Ashwina's taste is not as good as the Gourmati – which is available in markets till at least September 20."

Gourmati stays in the market for over a month, and no other mango lasts as long, he said, adding while the Katiman variety is also available in the market for a similar amount of time, it cannot compete with Gourmati in terms of quality.

"It also has huge potentials to take over the export market as it has great taste as well."

Mehedi Masood, project director for the year-round fruit production for the DAE's nutrition improvement project, said, "After detecting this naturally-mutated variety in 2012, we have systematically expanded its cultivation … In 2015-16, we produced 50,000 plants of Gourmati mangoes through this project and then distributed them all over the country through horticulture centers.

"So far, about 5,000 hectares of land across the country has been dedicated to Gourmati cultivation. However, the variety has one flaw – it's poor immunity and resistance to germs."

Kamrul Islam said researches are being conducted over the last few years to improve its immunity.