In the mango orchards of Sapahar, Naogaon, where summer usually hums with the sweet scent of ripening fruit, an uneasy calm now lingers.
Not the silence of calm, but of despair!
A once-promising mango season has turned sour for hundreds of growers and traders, as Eid holidays, scorching heat and administrative delays combine in a perfect storm, leaving prized Amropali mangoes to rot both on trees and in crates.
Each morning, Sakhawat Hossain walks through his 400-bigha orchard with a heavy heart.
“I had hoped this would be our best season yet,” he said, eyes fixed on the unsold crates. “Instead, I’m throwing away nearly 30 to 35 maunds of fruit every day.”
That is over a tonne of mangoes spoiling daily—unsold and unsalvageable!
Nature and Calendar at Odds
At the heart of the crisis lies a clash between nature’s timing and official regulations.
The Amropali variety—celebrated for its firm texture and rich aroma—began ripening around 10 days earlier than expected due to an intense heatwave.
But according to the mango harvesting calendar set by the district administration and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), no mangoes were to be harvested before June 18.
While the circular did mention that early harvesting could be allowed with prior approval from the local agriculture office or Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), the country was by then entering a 10-day Eid shutdown.
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With banks closed, transport and courier services suspended, the critical window to move mangoes from Sapahar to major markets, especially Dhaka, shut abruptly.
Growers like Sakhawat tried to follow the rules.
“When we went to the agriculture office for approval, they told us to go to the UNO office. The UNO office sent us back to the agriculture office. This has been going on every day," he said.
By Wednesday afternoon, he was still without permission. Piles of fruit, worth several lakh taka, lay decomposing.
Normally, June brings frenzied activity to Sapahar’s orchards. Pickers scale trees, buyers haggle over prices, lorries line up to ferry mangoes nationwide.
But this year, the markets are hauntingly quiet.
“I’ve seen many mango seasons,” said Imam Hossain, general secretary of the local mango wholesalers’ association. “But never anything like this. Mangoes worth crores are being dumped into the soil during these Eid holidays.”
He noted that Amropali mangoes are currently selling for Tk 4,000 to 4,200 per maund—but even at these prices, buyers are scarce. “With no way to transfer money or transport goods, everything’s at a standstill.”
When Nature Moves Faster Than Policy
Sohel Rana, owner of Barendra Agro Park, called the early ripening both a blessing and a curse. “We had a beautiful crop this year. But the heat accelerated ripening. And mangoes can’t be stored for long, especially without a cold chain, so we had no way to preserve them.”
He added, “Every mango we pick has to be sold the same day. If not, we dump it. That’s our only option.”
Sohel believes that if even partial banking and transport services had remained open during Eid, much of the losses could have been avoided.
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“In a place like Sapahar, where thousands depend on mango income, there needs to be flexibility during peak season,” he said.
Officials Defend the System
Abul Kalam Azad, Deputy Director of the DAE in Naogaon, said this year’s mango calendar was actually brought forward by three days compared to last year.
He acknowledged that the Eid holidays caused disruption, but played down the scale of the losses. "Permission for early harvest was available. If anyone applied properly, they should have received it.”
He added that the district still hopes to achieve its mango revenue target of Tk 3,500 to 4,000 crore this year.
But on the ground, many growers say these reassurances offer little comfort.
“If this continues even a few more days,” warned Imam Hossain, “The entire mango market could collapse. Prices will spike, supply will vanish and everyone -- farmers, traders, consumers -- will suffer.”
In a country where agriculture underpins millions of lives, this year’s mango season in Naogaon stands as a cautionary tale, underscoring the need for responsive governance, real-time decision-making and investment in post-harvest infrastructure.
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For now, Sapahar’s trees still hang heavy with fruit. But beneath them lie the spoils of delay -- mangoes, money, and the hope of a season lost.
#With additional inputs from Julfekar Dehan