Pran to procure 60,000 metric tons mango in Rajshahi

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RAJSHAHI, June 5, 2018 (BSS) – Pran Agro Limited has set a target to
procure more than 60,000 metric tons of mango worth around Taka 100 crore in
Rajshahi region during the current harvesting season.

The procurement drive has been started since May 28 last and will
continue till the mango supply exists.

Hazrat Ali, General Manager of Pran Agro Limited Factory, told the
local journalists while launching the mango procurement and pulping
activities in the factory here yesterday.

He said Pran will purchase the fruit in large quantity from its 16,000
contract farmers especially in Rajshahi, Natore, Chapainawabganj, Naogaon,
Dinajpur, Meherpur and Satkhira.

Pran collects mangoes from its contractual farmers, who get necessary
assistance from the company, said Md Kamruzzaman, senior manager of the
contract farming department at Pran Agro Business Ltd.

“We check whether the mangoes are ripe or rotten. The good ones are sent
to the laboratory for necessary tests, including formalin and PH. We also
check the weight of the collected mangoes. After the laboratory tests, they
are sent to the factory for processing,” Ali said.

“This process helps to preserving the pulps for a year without freezing.
The taste and freshness of the pulps also remain intact. Pran Agro factory
currently employs 7,000 people, and every mango collection season creates
employment opportunities for around 3,000 people”, Ali said.

Ninety percent of the workers are women, he said. More than 5,000
farmers are to be provided training on mango such as farming, nursing and
harvesting in different districts of the region.

Ziaul Haque, Media Manager of PRAN, said PRAN has taken the initiative
aimed at boosting yield of the delicious seasonal fruit here.

Around 50,000 mango seedlings were also distributed among the
contractual farmers in different districts of the region last year.