Fazli always seemed to be a cut above other mangoes due to its unique fragrance and taste, but this widely acclaimed 200-year-old variety is losing popularity day by day.

This is because new varieties are entering the market, making it difficult for Fazli mangoes to keep hogging all the demand, according to agriculturists.

"The Fazli variety had the best reputation until 2010, but after the arrival of new varieties, such as BARI Aam-3 (Amrapali), the demand started to shift," said Md Sorof Uddin, a senior scientific officer at the Horticulture Research Centre of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) in Gazipur.

Fazli mangoes are usually harvested from June 20 onward in Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj, the two main mango producing districts in Bangladesh.

The harvesting of Amrapali mangoes, grown on around 16,000 hectares of land across the country, begins on June 15.

Amrapali mangoes are quickly becoming the preferred variety among consumers as they are comparatively sweeter and juicier.

Other than its flavour, Amrapali is also popular because of its attractive look, say farmers, consumers and experts.

"As the harvesting of Fazli and Amrapali mangoes begins almost simultaneously, the former is falling behind in consumer preferences. This is the main reason," Uddin said, adding that only one out of 10 buyers buy Fazli mangoes while the rest buy Amrapali.

Uddin, who has been working in this sector for a long time, said the Amrapali variety was released in 1996-97, but it hit the market in 2005.

The variety has been cultivated in many districts, including hilly areas, from 2009-10. Thanks to its growing popularity, about 90 per cent of the mangoes ordered online are the Amrapali variety.

"The younger generation prefers Amrapali mangoes, but older people still like Fazli," Uddin said.

It is said that Fazli has been widely admired in the Indian subcontinent for over 200 years.

During the India-Pakistan partition, three upazilas of West Bengal's Malda were included in Chapainawabganj.

At the time, there were big Fazli and Ashwina mango orchards in the areas.

Besides, Fazli has been grown in Rajshahi, especially in Bagha and Charghat upazilas, for a long time now.

Md Salahuddin, a mango grower in Bagha, said he had 25 Fazli mango trees but eventually added other varieties to his orchard, such as Amrapali and Bari Aam-4, a hybrid variety.

"The demand and price of Fazli are much lower than that of Amrapali."

This year, Amrapali was being sold at Tk 1,600 per maund [one maund is 37 kilograms], while Fazli fetched Tk 600 per maund, he said.

"Once, most mango orchards were of Fazli, but the farmers are now compelled to cultivate other varieties," Salahuddin added.

Kabir Hossain, an agriculturist and former director of the horticulture wing of the Department of the Agricultural Extension (DAE), said the production of Fazli mangoes was declining due to various diseases that plagued the crop and variety degeneration.

So, farmers are cultivating more productive and relatively tastier varieties of mango instead.

"Last year, I saw mango trees of Bari Aam-4 and other varieties being planted in the orchards of Fazli, especially in Chapainawabganj's Shibganj upazila, which is called the capital of mango. It was just a variety replacement," Hossain added.

This year, the DAE expects that 25 lakh tonnes of mangoes will be produced in Bangladesh, the world's seventh-largest mango-producing country. Last season, 24.68 lakh tonnes of mangoes were grown on 1.9 lakh hectares of land.

Alongside Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj, mango is cultivated commercially in at least 30 districts.

There are around 100 varieties of mango in the country.

Of them, Amrapali accounts for 28 per cent of the total production, followed by Himsagar, or Khirsapati, 20 per cent, Fazli 10 per cent, Ashwina 15 per cent, Langra 5 per cent, Laxmanbhog 5 per cent, Gopalbhog 3 per cent, and Guti 10 per cent, according to a primary estimate of BARI's Uddin.

Around seven lakh tonnes of Amrapali, five lakh tonnes of Himsagar, and 2.5 lakh tonnes of Fazli mangoes were produced this year.

The demand for Amrapali abroad is similarly high as the variety makes up 60-70 per cent of Bangladesh's mango exports. Exporters shipped 791 tonnes of mango in fiscal 2020-21.

Uddin went on to say that there is a way to bring back the pride of Fazli.

"A product called dried mango slice can be made from Fazli. There is a huge demand in the UK for this product, which is usually priced around Tk 1,200-1,300 per kg. It can only be made from the Fazli and BARI Aam-4 varieties," he said.

"If we make that kind of product, the demand for Fazli will increase tremendously."