Production of top 5 vegetables goes up in FY21

Production volume of the top five vegetables – which make up nearly 60 per cent of all greens grown in Bangladesh – increased in the last fiscal year.

Riding on this growth, the country’s total vegetable production rose from 28.90 million tonnes in FY2019-20 to 31.61 million tonnes in FY2020-21 – showing an increase of 2.71 million tonnes, Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) sources told The Business Post.

Bangladesh also added around 1.27 lakh hectares of land to vegetable cultivation during this period, reaching 14.34 lakh hectares in FY21. Per hectare yield of greens have remained almost the same – around 22 tonnes, they added.

Potato

Potato – currently at the top of this list – made the highest jump in production volume, hitting 112.25 lakh tonnes in FY21 with a year-on-year increase of 4.79 lakh tonnes. Yield per hectare reached 23.25 tonnes in F21, from 23.22 tonnes in the previous year. Bangladesh added 19,972 hectares of new land into potato cultivation during that period, totaling 482,666 hectares.

Providing more details, Krishi Gobeshona Foundation’s Executive Director Jiban Krishna Biswas said, “Potatoes make up the major portion of vegetables produced in the country. We do not produce export quality potatoes. “So, we must ensure cultivation of good quality and internationally accepted varieties of potato.”

Eggplant

Second on the top vegetable list, the production volume of eggplants reached 28.89 lakh tonnes in F21 on 1.09 lakh hectare of land. This is an increase from 24.66 lakh tonnes on 93,595 hectare in F20.

Bangladesh added around 15,755 hectares of land into eggplant production last fiscal year. Per hectare eggplant yield increased to 26.41 tonnes from 26.35 tonnes during that period.

Tomato

The country produced 17.88 lakh tonnes of tomatoes last fiscal year, and the production increased by 37,701 tonnes compared to FY20. Cultivators added 2,884 hectares of new land for cultivating this crop, making the total 60,760 hectare.

However, per hectare yield reduced a little to 29.42 tonnes in F21 from 30.23 in F20.  

Radish

The production volume of radish rose by 2.65 lakh tonnes in FY21, reaching 17.69 lakh tonnes. Cultivators used around 52,726 hectares of land in the crop’s cultivation, an increase of 2,668 hectares when compared year-on-year.

Per hectare yield also rose to 33.55 tonnes from 30.05 tonnes in FY20. Radish has overtaken Bottle Gourd to take up the position of fourth most produced vegetable in the country.

Bottle Gourd

The production volume, per hectare yield and amount of land the crop is being cultivated have increased in the FY21 when compared year-on-year. During this period, Bangladesh produced 17.44 lakh tonnes of Bottle Gourd on 60,203 hectare of land.

Production increased by 2.07 lakh tonnes, while cultivators added 5,559 hectares of land in the crop’s cultivation. Per hectare yield of the vegetable increased to 28.96 tonnes in F21 from 28.11 tonnes in F20.

Despite an increase in production volume of the top five vegetables, their combined stake in total vegetable production has decreased a little. In F20, these five top vegetables occupied 62 per cent of the total production, which dropped to 61 per cent in FY21.

‘Increase storage facilities’

Commenting on how to further improve this sector, Executive Director of Krishi Gobeshona Foundation Jiban Krishna Biswas said, “Bangladesh needs to increase the number of storage facilities, because the cold chain network in the country is very poor.

“The government is however working on improving quality testing, quality assurance and boosting the number of cold chain facilities for storage. Quality, availability and excellent storage facilities are the prerequisites to entering the global market.”

Some vegetables are available all year round in the kitchen markets across the country, and those also have a high demand among consumers.

Speaking with The Business Post, a retailer in Dhaka’s Shewrapara area Mohammad Sumon said, “We buy vegetables from the wholesale market, and they bring some common vegetables every day.

“Potato, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Eggplant, Radish, Tomato, Green Chili, Coriander, Pumpkin, Bottle Gourd, Cucumber and Carrot make up for most of the sales in vegetable shops. Majority of these vegetables are available widely during the winter, so the variety is limited in summer.”

The DAE keeps track of 34 types of vegetables, but some other types are also grown in the country. The combined production of those vegetables reached 6.21 lakh tonnes in FY21.

A recent study by the Biodiversity International Scientist in collaboration with The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United States revealed that a total of 1,097 vegetable species are cultivated worldwide.

Bangladesh is familiar with less than 7% of those species. The study also mentions that the global diets are actually becoming more similar, based on fewer crops such as tomato, eggplant, onion, carrot, beet, lettuce and broccoli.

5 least produced vegetables

Turnip Greens, Pea, Arum, Cilantro and Drumstick are the five least produced vegetables.

Bangladesh produced 23,662 tonnes of turnip greens on 1,636 hectares of land in FY21, with a yield of 14.46 tonnes per hectare. During that period, pea production reached 28,082 tonnes on 3,114 hectare of land with 9.01 ton yield per hectare.

The production of arum had hit 33,121 tonnes on 1,715 hectare of land with 19.31 tonnes per hectare yield, while production of cilantro reached 34,722 tonnes on 9,242 hectares of land with 3.75 tonnes per hectare.

Fifth in the list, drumstick production reached 40,398 tonnes on 2,614 hectare of land with 15.45 tonnes per hectare.