Fruits and Vegetables
“Freshness in the green, fruits & vegetables are the medicine”
Bangladesh is an agricultural country and moving forward to commercial agriculture. Today, Bangladesh ranks 3rd in rice production, 1st in jute production, 3rd in vegetable production, 7th in tea production, 8th in guava production, 28th in fruit production, and 1st in crop variety production in the world. This state really proves huge success of Bangladesh in the field of agriculture,
The demand for high-quality Bangladeshi vegetables and fruits is gradually increasing in the global market. Therefore, export of fruits and vegetables from Bangladesh is also increasing. In the fiscal year 2021-22, about 3 thousand 199 tons of vegetables and fruits have been exported in various countries in the world.
Mostly, vegetables exported from Bangladesh are; Bottle Gourd (Lao), wax gourd (chalkumra) , Aroid/Taro (Kachu) , Eddo (mukhi kachu), stolon of Taro (Lati kachu), Stem of Aroid (Kachur doga), Leaves of Aroid (Kachur sakh), Stean of Banana (thor), Banana flower (mocha), plantain (kacha kola), Green Papaya, small cucumber (Khira), pumpkin, Radish(Mula) Beans, Bean seeds, Jackfruits seeds, Onion leaves, Thunkuni leaves, Radish leaves, Pumpkin leaves, Snake gourd(chichinga), Pointed gourd(patol), Teasle gourd (Kakrol), Bitter gourd (Karola), Sponge gourd (Dundul), Okra (Derosh), Ribbed gourd (Jinga), Morunga (sajina) etc.
Among the fruits varieties; Mango, Jackfruit, Watermelon, Guava, Jara leamon, Betel nut, Latkon, Grapefruit, Palm, Dry gourd, Pineapple, Jujube(Boroi), Hog plum (Amara), Carambola (Kamaranga), Olive, Gooseberry (Amlaki), Tamarind(Tetul), Green Tamarind, Dellenia (Chalta), Wood Apple (Bel), Elephant foot apple (Kadbel), Toikar, Corn meal(Safeda), Daophal, Chukarphal, Indian plum(Lukluki), Water chestnut (Paniphal), Green coconut, Velvet apple (Bilati gab), Karanda (Karamcha), Calamus palm (Betphal), various types of lemon, etc.
In addition to those, Sugarcane, Raw Turmeric, Coriander Leaves, Long Coriander Leaves, Naga hot Chili, Green hot Chili, Betel leaf (Pan), Betel nut (Supari) etc. are also being exported.
There are more than 40 countries in the world where fresh vegetables and fruits are being exported from Bangladesh. However, the majority of vegetable are exported to 06 countries. According to the data of the Export Promotion Bureau, the highest vegetables export income comes from six countries; those are United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. Besides, vegetables are being exported to other countries like Italy, Singapore, Bahrain, Sweden, Canada, Germany, France, Greece, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands etc.
The global market for fresh fruits and vegetables is about $10,000 billion. Therefore, according to the demand of the importing countries, quality food products have to be supplied. Importing countries especially, the European Union has imposed conditions to follow Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) to export agricultural products in Europe.
The government has taken various initiatives to increase the export of fruits and vegetables in the world market. For this purpose, to fulfill the conditions of the European Union, a central packing house with modern laboratory has been constructed in Dhaka under the ‘Bangladesh Phytosanitary Capacity Strengthening’ project of the Directorate of Agriculture. Vegetables and fruits before exporting to any country, are always examined and tested for any type of contamination, including salmonella, pesticide residue, virus, bacterial or fungal contamination, with a variety of MRL tests and ensures 100% compliance.
Most of the fruits and vegetables are exported from Bangladesh by air. But few fruits and vegetables are also being exported by sea. A large quantity of Guavas and Watermelon are being exported to the Middle East and Malaysia respectively by sea. About 60,000 metric tons of vegetables including round potatoes, cabbage, and sweet potatoes are exported to several countries including the Middle East, Bahrain, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Brunei every year through Chittagong sea port. Besides, jackfruit cells and pineapples are being exported as frozen items by sea.