Exotic fruits, grown in Bangladesh

On the little fallow land behind his house and along his paddy field, Ashraf Hossain has planted mango, jackfruit, and banana trees. Even after eating the fruits of these trees, some are still available for sale. “Our native fruit trees are low-maintenance and cost-effective,” Ashraf said. “Currently, as people’s demand for fruits has increased, I’m considering doing fruit cultivation alongside agriculture.”

Many people, including Ashraf Hossain, are increasingly interested in fruit cultivation. 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 per cent each year. 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), ata (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 technology in agriculture and sincere efforts of the government, 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 varieties 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, and oranges are usually produced there. According to DAE, 15 percent of the country’s production is made in hill tracts. There are generally 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 in production.

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 tonnes of fruit were produced in Bandarban, 600 thousand tonnes in Rangamati, and 350 thousand tonnes 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, 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 tonnes. Also, 38 types of fruits are produced there.

Among them, cashew nuts, dragon fruit, olives, 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 per cent 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 such 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.

Such statements have a factual basis. If native fruits can meet our physical and mental needs and if they are produced in sufficient quantities, then is there any need to grow exotic fruits here? Why are foreign fruits cultivated here - such questions have now arisen among common people. After several years of experimenting with soil treatment, several foreign fruits have been produced in the country. Such as dragon, strawberry, Saudi palm, apple, pineapple, orange, malta, grape, avocado, rambutan, almond, mangosteen, persimmon, logan, Vietnamese coconut, Thai guava, Thai papaya, lime, durian etc. Of these, Thai papaya varieties have been domesticated. As they play a massive role in the rural economy, there is no doubt that they are also outstanding in terms of nutrition. These can be found in any super shop and even roadside shops.

The question is, while increasing the production of these foreign fruits, what if we lose our native fruits? We have lost a lot of our native, nutritious and valuable fish as a result of raising foreign species of fish, which served as not only our primary source of nutrition but also preserved our biodiversity and carried the traditions, cultures, and histories of the past. They were accessible in a way that made them affordable for the average poor person and did not have to be bought even.

Not only foreign fruits are cultivated, businessman is also imported from abroad and distributed throughout the country. Like dragon fruit, strawberry, Saudi date, apple, pineapple, orange, tangerine, grape, apple is widely imported from abroad. Statistics say that the country currently imports 10 thousand crores of fruits.

Strawberry is a South American fruit. It is widely produced in Europe. Thirty years ago, strawberries were imported into this country, and the fruit is trendy. It has been widely grown in the country over the past decade as a result of research by agronomists. It is currently imported even though it does not need to be imported. Dragons are widely produced in Malaysia and Indonesia. It is now cultivated all over the country and is sold at low prices. They do not need to be imported now. But still, all these fruits are imported.

Saudi dates are also grown here and sold raw. Anna has grown well here and yielded as expected among grapes, pears and pears. Apples, grapes, pears are grown on a limited scale. There are two issues here. One. There is zero or nominal import duty on imported fruits. As a result, importers from abroad are very interested in importing them. Two. We have less land. Cultivating these types of fruits requires extensive land. Therefore, if these types of fruits are widely cultivated here, there will be an adverse reaction in our native crops and fruit cultivation. It has been seen that several fruits have already started to decline for foreign fruit cultivation. 

Our native fruits are usually found in fallow land, house side, land edge, embankment, government land etc. No separate fee is required to install them. No special care is required for these. Jackfruit can be used for everything. It happens during monsoon. Many eat it cooked when vegetables are scarce. Edible oil or ghee can be made from its seeds. One kilogram of jackfruit seeds can be used to make half a kilogram of edible oil or ghee. Just as date trees are used to beautify roads in the Middle East, we can also use jackfruit trees to beautify roadsides. Three types of molasses are produced from the juice of our native date trees Jhola, Patali, and Dana.

The maple tree is the national tree of Canada. Maple syrup made from the sap of this tree is exported to different countries of the world. It is also used as food and medicine ingredient. We can also make such syrup from our date sap and sell it in the international market.

All the foreign fruits that can be produced in our country at low cost in a small area should be produced. Besides, mango, jackfruit, and lychee do not grow throughout the year. Winter fruits are also less here. There are also fewer winter fruits here. However, if fruits can be produced here at a low cost, they can be produced here instead of imported, which would cost more in foreign currency. The government, however, needs to be aware of this and make a decision. There needs to be a policy on which fruits will be produced here and which will be imported. Care should be taken to ensure that the results are not as per the opinion of the syndicates of fruit importers, since they only see their personal interests and do not give importance to saving or earning foreign currency of the country.

The writer is a freelance columnist. She can be contacted at shanu.mostafiz@gmail.com