Mango trees in the district are adorned with bunches of flowers amid favourbale weather this year, and the sweet smell of the flowers pervades in every corner.

Farmers in Chapainawabganj are hopeful of a bumper yield of the sweet juicy fruit this season. They say the flowering has

been unprecedented.

About 90 percent mango trees in the orchards and homesteads have already bloomed and the flowering still continues, said Jahangir Firoj, agriculture officer of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Sadar upazila.

He said there are about 20 lakh mango trees on 26,150 hectares of land in the district. He expects a bumper mango production this season if the weather continues to remain favourable in the next few months.

Sources in the DAE said the number of mango trees and the area of the orchards have increased this year. Last year, there were 18.75 lakh mango trees on 24,470 hectares of land in the district and a total of 2.40 lakh tonnes of mango was produced.

Torikul Islam, a mango farmer of Chhatrajitpur in Shibganj upazila, said he has some 150 mango trees in his two orchards and the condition of the mango orchards is better this year. About 90 percent of the mango trees are in full bloom. One can hardly find any mango tree with no flowers, he said.

Asgar Ali, a mango trader and lease holder of mango orchards in Shibganj, said, "I bought 200 mango trees this season, and I hope to get a good yield if the weather remains favourable."

Golam Mostofa of Moharajpur village in Sadar upazila said he has 300 mango trees in his orchards and 85 to 90 percent of the trees have

already bloomed.

Sorof Uddin, senior scientific officer of Regional Horticulture Research Station, said the trees are in full buds now, which indicates there would be a good yield of mango this year.

According to scientists and agriculture officials, mangoes are the most important cash crop in the region and that the livelihood of a large number of people are dependant on the fruit.

A good number of people remain engaged in different jobs, including nursing, harvesting and packing, during the mango season every year. The region has a long tradition of producing at least 350 varieties of mangoes, they said.

Mango growers and traders who have started taking care of the mango trees from the month of December last year are upbeat that it will bring good business. Farmers have started spraying pesticides on the trees to ensure protection of the crop.