The grafting of the world’s sweetest raw mango cultivar, Green Mango of Taiwan, has made its first breakthrough in Bangladesh. Agriculture officials have successfully completed the performance trial at the Ratoil Horticulture Center of Kashiani Upazila of Gopalganj, and they are planning to spread it to the 73 centres across the country to promote commercial production.

This mango is sweet in its raw state, and ripeness increases its sweetness and taste. The harvest time is an added advantage for the farmers since no local variety is available in the market in October-November.

Moreover, this variety is high-yielding. Some 105 mango seedlings can be planted in one bigha of land (33 decimals), from where around 1,500 kgs of mangoes can be harvested after 2 to 3 years. Considering the price to be Tk500 per kg, a farmer can earn around Tk5,00,000, excluding expenses, from one bigha of land. Each mango weighs around 600-700gm.

In various countries, including Taiwan and Thailand, this mango is sold at Tk500-700 per kg in Bangladeshi currency.

The venture began two years ago when Dr Mehedi Masud, head of a project aimed at ensuring nutritional development through year-round fruit production, brought a cutting of the world’s sweetest mango variety from Thailand and gave it to Gopalganj Horticulture Centre.

Then they performed grafting of the cutting with indigenous varieties to make the mango seedlings suitable for the climate of Bangladesh. This year the first mango has grown on that tree.

According to Aminul Islam, deputy director of Gopalganj Horticulture Center, no pest infestation or disease was observed in the plant.

“This mango can be eaten raw. Hence this mango is named Green Mango. When ripe, the sweetness and taste of mangoes increase manifold. Moreover, 90% of this mango is edible. These mangoes are rich in vitamin C and other vitamins and nutrients the human body requires,” he added.

“The climate of Bangladesh is suitable for the cultivation of this mango. We have already created a mother garden in our horticulture centre. From here, we have started to send seedlings to 73 horticulture centers in the country. All the horticulture centers of the country will have mother gardens of this mango. We will also produce seedlings for the local farmers. There is a huge potential for commercial cultivation of this mango in Bangladesh,” said Aminul Islam.

Dr Mehdi Masud said they had introduced 16 mango varieties from abroad under the project of year-round fruit production. Of those, Catimon has become very popular among farmers because it can be harvested three times a year.

“I brought the raw sweet mango variety from Thailand. It originates from Taiwan. Its performance has been trialed at the Gopalganj Horticulture Centre. We’ve named it green mango. It will bring a big business to Bangladesh in the near future,” he added.