Bangladesh ranks second in the world in jackfruit production, seventh in mango, eighth in guava and 14th in papaya.
Unfortunately, government statistics show up to 40% of these fresh fruits perish before reaching the consumers of the country.
A sixth of guavas and a third of hog plums that the country produces each year are grown in three southwestern districts – Jhalakathi, Barisal and Pirojpur.
However, there are no fruit processing units in the region that can use the plums and guavas to produce juice, jelly, pickles, and chutneys.
This is but one example of how such a big percentage of fruits are wasted. Per capita fruit consumption in Bangladesh (85 grams per person per day) is much lower than the standard 200 grams, according to the Bangladesh government's official statistics.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) data shows an average Bangladeshi consumes less than 19 kilograms of fruits a year, as compared to over 30kg in India, nearly 36kg in China, over 45kg in Thailand, and over 48kg in Nepal. The global average is over 26kg.
Amidst such a fruit consumption scenario in Bangladesh, people in Dhaka are being exposed to rich varieties of fruits – both homegrown and fruits from abroad being adopted here – courtesy of a three-day National Fruit Fair.
The Krishibid Institution Bangladesh (KIB) in the city's Khamarbari area is hosting the fair that ended on Froday.
The fair that Agriculture Minister Dr M Abdur Razzaque formally opened on Thursday has drawn large crowds who appreciate the wide range of fruit varieties on display, which also include some recently popularized fruits such as strawberry, rambutan, dragon fruit and avocado.
The minister acknowledged that upto 40% of locally grown fruits perish due to lack of post-harvest storage facilities and fruit processing units. He said scientists in Bangladesh have developed 65 high yielding varieties of 30 different fruits over the last several years.
Official statistics show Bangladesh's annual fruit production saw a steady growth from 10 million tons in 2008-09 to over 12 million tons now, but still the country imports nearly a million tons of fruits from abroad every year.
Against 790 tons of mango exports and eight tons of lychee exports in 2020-21, Bangladesh imported 800,241 tons of fruits from different countries. Just four varieties of fruits – apple, grape, orange, and malta – constitute 85% of this total import volume.
Dr Babul Chandra Sarkar is a chief scientific officer at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI).
He says Bangladesh farmers grow as many as 78 kinds of local and foreign-origin fruits, but banana, jackfruit and mango constitute 60% of all fruits produced in the country.
