Home ›› 28 Nov 2022 ›› Editorial
Six jack fruit trees surrounded Akbar Hossain's house. He planted jackfruits around his house. The trees had so many jackfruits even after giving them to his relatives, he would still have leftovers, which were later damaged. He said, "Therefore in my land, there are so many jackfruits that I am planning on commercially cultivating the jackfruits. In jackfruit cultivating seasons, many jackfruits all around the country are wasted and the price falls. Sometimes I think about commercially cultivating jackfruits but I don't have the courage to do so. If jackfruit preservation had a proper system, then I could have commercially cultivated jackfruits".
Like Akbar Hossain, many people want to cultivate fruit, but as there is no system to preserve fruits, they want to avoid risking it. People now realize that fruit is a nutritious and nourishing food for the body. It also improves immunity, eradicates poverty, and restores environmental balance. Bangladesh is progressing day by day in terms of fruit production. According to statistics, the country's output grows by 10% yearly. According to FAO, Bangladesh ranks tenth in the world in fruit production. According to FAO statistics, Bangladesh ranks second in jackfruit production, seventh in mango, eighth in guava, and fourteenth in papaya production. According to statistics from the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), the country's fruit production is doubling last ten years.
Bangladesh typically produces native fruits such as mango, jackfruit, coconut, pineapple, papaya, watermelon, grapefruit, palm, amra (hog plum), guava, lotkon (burmese grape), atha (sugar-apple), jam, lychee, elephant apple, plum, kulboroi (indian jujube), etc. In the past, all these fruits were produced here as seasonal fruits. With the use of advanced agriculture technology and the government's sincere efforts, several fruits have been produced throughout the year in addition to seasonal fruits. Currently, 70 types of fruits are grown here.
Of these, 10-20 types of fruit have been cultivated commercially. The fastest-growing fruits are papaya, guava, and lychee. During the last 5-6 years, nutrient-rich fruits like avocado, dragon fruit, watermelon, etc., have been produced in large quantities and sold well.
Most of the fruits produced in the country are produced in three hill districts. Mango, banana, pineapple, papaya, jackfruit, oranges are usually produced there. According to DAE, 15 percent of the country's production is produced in hill tracts. There are usually young and new entrepreneurs working on this. There is no political instability; there is ample space for fruit production, and cheap labor does not pose a problem.
Since 2004, numerous public and private initiatives have increased fruit production in hill tracts.
From the year 2017, the impact began to be apparent. In 2017, 1.5 million tonnes of fruit were produced on 92 thousand hectares of land in three hilly areas. Out of this production is more in Bandarban. Last year, 850 thousand tons of fruit were produced in Bandarban, 600 thousand tons in Rangamati, and 350 thousand tons in Khagrachari. The combined fruit market of the three districts mentioned was Tk 85 billion taka. According to the country's scientists, the soil, climate, and atmosphere of Hill Trucks are particularly suitable for the cultivation of mangoes, bananas, pineapples, papayas, jackfruits, and oranges. Many people there grow mangoes, bananas, and oranges in their open spaces or yards in front of or behind their homes. Many people are also cultivating these fruits commercially.
Almost every district of Bangladesh produces some fruit. Of these, mangoes are widely produced in Rajshahi, and lychee in Dinajpur, but currently, farmers can grow all kinds of fruits anywhere in the country. According to DAE, 81 percent of mango, banana, pineapple, papaya, jackfruit, and orange produced in the country are produced in the three hill districts, which is about 14 million tons. Also, 38 types of fruits are produced there. Among them, cashew nuts, dragon fruit, olives, and apples are produced. According to DAE, 1.6 million farmers are involved in marginal, small, medium, and large-scale fruit cultivation in the three districts. 70–80% of the Thanchi Chimbuk area's residents who relied on jum cultivation 14–15 years ago have changed their financial circumstances by cultivating fruits and vegetables.
The fruits of our country are usually sweet and sour. Very few countries in the world have such a variety of fruits and delicious fruits. Experts say that fruits or other foods are grown according to the climate, soil, and the physical needs and wants of the people of that country. It strengthens the immune system by providing people with the nutrients they need. But still, a lot of fruits are wasted, and these need to be preserved.
However, if one wants to store a mango for two weeks, one has to collect the mango with the stem by hand. Then it has to be kept at a temperature of 10-12 degrees centigrade. If you want to store mangoes at home or commercially for six months or more, after collecting the mangoes, you can lightly remove the mango peel or top part and store it in an airtight container with vinegar and some other things. Usually, all the factories that make juice store mangoes in this way. Mangoes can also be stored at home in this way. In addition, when storing mangoes at home, each mango can be wrapped in a separate newspaper and stored in the refrigerator.
When there are many mangoes in the market, many complain that the traders give them formalin to sell them for a long time. This destroys the nutritional value of mango and also destroys the taste of mango. Eating all these mangoes makes people sick. Immediately, many people have stomach aches or diarrhea. Doctors say that people suffer from various diseases, including kidney, heart, and cancer, by eating food mixed with formalin.
However, experts say the country has the technology to store mangoes properly. Preserving mangoes using the knowledge of agricultural scientists and experts in our country is not a problem. Rather, the country will benefit from it. There is a huge demand for mangoes in our country, and many mangoes are produced in the country. Vietnam earns about 40 billion a year by exporting agricultural products. Bangladesh earns about two billion dollars there. Mangoes and jackfruit fruits are dried to make a variety of foods which are rich in many nutrients, and all these foods can be eaten for a long time in Vietnam and Thailand. They also export these abroad. They also export these abroad.
Bangladesh can make food items by drying mango in various ways. Those who are working with mango also know the issues, and they are also interested in them. Those who are working with mango also know the issues, and they are also interested in them. However, those concerned said the work had not been done for any reason. Besides, mango pulp or juice can also be made and exported abroad. Bangladeshi mangoes are in great demand in the world market for different varieties and special tastes.
Needless to say, the country can earn a lot of foreign exchange from the mango as well as the special favorite fruit of the Bengalis. It requires some planning and decision-making. By selecting the areas where good quality mangoes are produced, work can be done from the beginning to conserve them. A pulp and juice factory has to be set up in the vicinity of the area to make pulp juice. It will reduce the cost of transporting mangoes, and mangoes will be well-spent during transportation.
It is also very important to make different types of food by drying mango. Just as it will help meet our nutritional needs, it will be available throughout the year if stored. It will benefit mango farmers and traders economically. Just as the government has to take the initiative, the non-governmental organizations must also come forward. The government alone cannot handle the issue. Therefore, the participation of the private sector is essential. However, the government also provides special training to farmers on the safe production, collection, packaging, transportation, and marketing of mangoes. But to make mango production economically successful, its preservation and marketing are essential. Formalin should not be used on mangoes.
Vietnam produces banana chips from bananas. We could do something similar. Bangladesh produces many watermelons; these watermelons are very delicious. If watermelons are well preserved, we can benefit from them. Bangladesh produces a lot of lemons, papaya, guava, lychee, and carrot and these fruits are converted into dry fruits and are sold in jars. These dry fruits are very flavorsome. Lots of pineapples are cultivated each year in Bangladesh. Due to a lack of preservation, many pineapples are wasted. Pineapples can be used in many things such as making pineapple juice, the fiber of the pineapple makes threads. As fruits can be preserved, they can also be used in useful ways. We have to take advice from experts on how to preserve fruits. Experts should research these issues of fruit preservation and let us know about them.
For fruit preservation, there are some rules on how to collect fruits from the trees. To collect fruits and preserve it, a lot of workers are needed. The demand for employment will increase in this sector, and as a result this will be a different sector for fruit preservation. It will be fairly profitable for the farmer, the sectors, and sellers, resulting in less fruit waste.
For these issues, government needs to step up quick and take serious actions. Research needs to be on where fruit should be preserved. Fruits from hill tracks should be only preserved near the hills. In the same way other fruits should also be preserved near where they were produced. If fruits are preserved like this, we can feed our own people and also import it to foreign countries, all around the globe and also in this way fruits won't be wasted. Government and public should come forward and take steps together.
The writer is a freelance columnist. She can be contacted at shanu.mostafiz@gmail.com
