বাংলায় পড়ুন
Mangoes, always known as the "King of Fruits," have long been admired for their juicy, mouth-watering, and delicious taste. Summer means mangoes! This is quite natural. There are several varieties of mangoes available in the market, but when it comes to the best among them, 'Miyazaki’ takes the first position as the world’s most expensive mango, priced at Rs. 2.75 lakh per kg in the global market. This was shown in the ongoing, three-day-long, 7th edition Mango Festival in Siliguri.
The three-day mango festival has been organised by Modella Caretaker Centre & School (MCCS) with the Association for Conservation and Tourism Act at a mall in Siliguri starting Friday, June 9. More than 262 varieties of mangoes were shown at the festival, and 55 growers from nine districts of West Bengal participated in the festival. Several popular varieties are shown, like Alphonso, Himsagar, Langra, Fajli, Amrapali, Sindu, Suryapuri, Bira, Ranipasand, Laxmanbhog, and others. Among all these mangoes, the "Miyazaki’ mango became the limelight of the festival. People were visiting this festival just to see this mango for once. This mango left the visitors speechless, not only for its price but also for its exceptional flavour. It has a high sugar content of 15% or higher and promises a sensory experience unlike any other.
Miyazaki mango production was started in California in 1940. Later, it was brought into Japan's Miyazaki city and thus got its name, Miyazaki mango. Recently, Indian growers, mostly from Bengal, have started growing this variety in their gardens. It is also known as 'Red Sun' and in Bengali as "Surja Dim'.
A Miyazaki farmer named Shoukat Hussien from Bribhum, West Bengal, said that he participated in this festival for the first time and brought the Miyazaki variety to the festival. He brought the 10 mangoes in a box, covering the mangoes with cotton. He also said that he sold all the mangoes for rupees five thousand to ten thousand.
Raj Basu, convenor of ACT and co-partner of the mango festival, said that they have displayed more than 262 varieties of mangoes, of which Miyazaki was the major attraction of the festival.
He also said, "People are flocking around the mango, and we received huge queries. They want to promote tourism through the festival. The association has appealed to UNESCO to declare Sompur Paharpur Mahavihara in the Bangladesh-Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) corridor as the "Mango Heritage Corridor" or Intunjable Cultural Heritage soon."
