State plans to set up mango museum in Murshidabad
kolkata: State Food Processing Industries and Horticulture ( FPI& H) department is planning to set up a mango museum in Murshidabad so that the future generations can gain knowledge about the wide varieties of mangoes that Bengal grows.
"Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has instructed us to set up a mango museum. Murshidabad is famous for its wide variety of mangoes. So, we are planning to set up a museum there. Bengal produces more than 400 varieties of mangoes and many of them are becoming extinct. We are committed to revive as many variety as possible so that the next generation can acquire knowledge about them," Subrata Saha, FPI&H Minister said at the inaugural programme of the three-day Mango Utsav that kicked off at Netaji Indoor Stadium on Thursday. Nearly 40 varieties of mangoes produced in nine districts of Bengal are being exhibited and sold at the Mango Utsav.
The major attraction is the Kohitoor variety of mango of Murshidabad which is ripened keeping upon cotton . Around 15 to 20 trees in the district grows Kohitoor. "Murshidabad is known for its wide variety of mangoes , while Malda produces the highest quantity of mangoes among all districts. If you cut a single tree in Malda, you have to plant 20. This law is prevalent only in Malda," added Saha.
Subrata Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary of FPI&H department said that around 4 crore metric tonnes of mangoes are produced across the world among which India alone produces half that is 2 crore MT. Bengal produces 9 lakh MT of them. Presently, 14 - 15 districts of Bengal grows mangoes. Mango is exported to around 40 countries that includes South East Asia and Middle East. Speaker of state Assembly Biman Banerjee who inaugurated the event on Thursday expressed his concern over felling of trees for urbanisation. Minister in charge of a number of government departments attended the inaugural programme that included Firhad Hakim, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, Shashi Panja, Akhil Giri, Biplab Mitra, Jared Ahmed Khan, Swapan Debnath, Sujit Bose, Indranil Sen, Bankim Hazra and also Deputy Speaker of state assembly Asish Banerjee.
