By Aynal Haque
RAJSHAHI, May 31, 2021 (BSS) – Mango business by the students leveraging the flow of information technology is on peak as educational institutions remained shut caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Many of the students are involved in online mango trading directly by best uses of the modern technologies, making profit.
In the mango business hubs in both urban and rural areas, presence of buyers is insignificant but the business intensity has become visible to a greater extent through phone-call, Imo, Viber, WhatsApp and Messenger.
Tanjim Hassan accompanied by three of his friends is doing brisk mango business through their facebook page named ‘Rajshahi Mango Products’ at present.
“We are getting orders of supplying mango from different parts of the country including the capital Dhaka continuously through the facebook page amid the Covid-19 pandemic,” Hassan, a resident of Amadpur village under Bagha Upazila, said.
They have already delivered around 1,200 kilograms of mangoes and received orders of 600 kilograms more.
Hassan said trading of mangoes online has gained a peak everywhere in the region benefitting both the sellers and buyers amid the pandemic.
Business online platforms have gained popularity to reach the mangoes to the doorsteps of the buyers amid the current virus situation.
Many of the young entrepreneurs in the region have started selling mangoes online after the best uses of facebook and WhatsApp like various social media.
Online mango business has generated employment for many people on one hand and the mango growers are getting fair prices on the other hand. Apart from this, the consumers are getting formalin-free and fresh mango according to their demands timely.
After getting online orders, they pluck mango from the orchards—- packaging on the spot and finally sending those to the clients through courier services, sources said.
Rashedul Islam, a former student of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism in Rajshahi University, has already sold around six tonnes of mangoes in different parts of the country through his Facebook page ‘Mango Shop’.
He has a target of selling around 150 tonnes of mangoes this season. He has 12 people at the field level and 30 people for collecting and packaging mangoes in different areas.
Siam Rezwan, former news presenter of a private television channel, has started the online mango business in Rajshahi this season and has already sold over 50 mounds of mango to various destinations including the capital Dhaka.
“I’m getting massive responses from my facebook friends and followers in this regard,” Rezwan said, adding he’s purchasing mango from various orchards directly and after packaging sending those through courier services.
He said the packaging system has been furthermore improved after receiving complaints at the beginning that the mangoes sent through courier were damaged.
Rezwan mentioned that services of the entire couriers must be transparent and accountable so that the delivery of mangoes remains perfect.
Sirajul Islam, additional director of the Department of Agricultural Extension, said there are more than 2.60 lakh mango growers and orchard owners in the region and around 1.30 lakh people are engaged in various activities related to mango harvesting, segregating, packaging, transporting and marketing.
He added that the DAE has set a target of harvesting around ten lakh tonnes of mangoes from 80,360 hectares of land in the region this season while last year’s production was 8,31,940 tonnes from 72,909 hectares of land.
Islam said mango harvesting season has emerged as a way of income source for many students particularly in current coronavirus pandemic situation as the deadly virus forced the authorities to close every educational institution across the country for over one year.
During the current season, the students of schools, colleges and universities are seen engaged in mango plucking, transportation, segregation and packaging with much interest.