Farmers report steep losses as mangoes rot on trees and fall across orchards
17 July 2026, 17:03 PM
Shohanur Rahman Rafi
As the harvest of Chapainawabganj’s iconic Fazli mango reaches its peak, growers are facing an unexpected setback. Prolonged rainfall in recent days has led to a sharp rise in fruit fly infestations, causing large quantities of mangoes to rot on the trees and fall across orchards, resulting in significant financial losses for farmers.At a sprawling 100-bigha Fazli orchard near Ghorastand in Chapainawabganj Sadar, workers were busy harvesting mangoes. Beneath the trees, however, hundreds of damaged mangoes lay rotting on the ground. Most of the harvested fruits also bore dark blemishes, making the mangoes unfit for the market.Abdul Awal, who leased the orchard, said the marks were caused by fruit flies that had multiplied rapidly following continuous rainfall.“The flies sit on the mangoes and puncture the skin. Rot develops in those spots, and eventually the fruits become unsellable,” he said, adding that most of the mangoes in the orchard had been affected.Awal had expected to harvest around 40,000 kg Fazli mangoes from the orchard. Instead, he managed to collect only about 8,000 kg of good-quality fruit.
