Guava: From homestead fruit to commercial success

Guava, once a homestead seasonal fruit, has become a commercial success story in the country in two decades.

From superstores to shops around bus and train stations as well as launch terminals to makeshift shops on footpaths, guava is sold everywhere along with other imported fruits like orange and apple. There are also people who sell it door to door.

Most importantly, guava is available in the market round the year, which reduces dependence on other fruits to meet the nutritional demand. Thai guava has made a big difference in the fruit’s production.

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), annual guava production was 46,765 tonnes in the fiscal year 2000-01, which jumped to 2.44 lakh tonnes in FY21.

In FY06, farmers produced 1.46 lakh tonnes of guava, more than three times the FY01 output. After five years in FY11, production reached 1.87 lakh tonnes before further increasing to 2.14 lakh tonnes in FY16. With increased production, Thai guava almost replaced the Kazi variety.

The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said Rajshahi as a single district produced 48,619 tonnes of guava in FY22, which was higher than the total national production in FY01.

In the last few years, Bangladesh’s average annual guava exports were around 300 tonnes while imports were less than 10 tonnes, according to the DAE.

Affordable nutrition source

Many people currently eat this fruit to meet their nutrition demand. Instead of other imported fruits, they also buy guava while visiting relatives, which marks a change in custom.

Al Amin, a senior sales executive at a private company, bought 3kg guava from a roadside shop in Mirpur’s Shewrapara area. The medium-sized fruits looked delicious.

“I spent Tk 210 on the purchase. Guava is an affordable source of nutrients for my family. On the other hand, per kg orange costs Tk 220-240 while the prices of apple and tangerine are almost in the same range,” he said.

He also said pomegranate had gone out of reach of the middle class long ago due to high prices.

“Considering everything, guava is appropriate both for meeting nutritional demand and maintaining the custom of buying fruits while visiting relatives,” he added.

Many consumers like Al Amin as well as retailers and farmers also said the high prices of imported fruits had created the space for guava to enter the market across the country. Hossain Ali, a retailer in Karwan Bazar, said, “Profits are the same for orange, apple, and guava. We do not sell any fruit below the minimum profit.”

“Consumers are now more interested in guava and that is why I keep it in my shop along with other fruits,” he said.

Thai guava real change-maker

Along with some other local varieties across the country, the Kazi variety dominated the total production till FY04. After that, its production started to decline as farmers preferred cultivating the Thai variety, which first arrived in Natore early this century.

This variety spread vastly in Natore, Rajshahi, and other adjacent districts in FY05.

All farmers in the Rajshahi region currently cultivate this variety, said Md Mozder Hosen, deputy director of the local DAE office, adding no other varieties are grown commercially there.

He said Thai guava can be harvested round the year, adding its price is good and yield is more than double compared to other varieties.

“Many educated people now grow guava as they want to be agriculture entrepreneurs. This has pushed up production as well,” he added.

Dipankar Das, head of the horticulture centre at Khayertola in Jashore, said, “If you break a Thai guava bud, two to three new ones will grow. This is a technique that farmers use to produce this variety round the year. If they do not do this, the natural yield will be lower.”

He said farmers did not know this technique when they used to grow the Kazi variety. “But now as they have the knowledge, their preference has changed. They are now more interested in the high-yielding Thai guava.”

The DAE said 4.3 lakh tonnes of guava were produced in the country in FY22. However, if past experience is anything to go by, the amount will be reduced by around 40-45 per cent when the BBS will verify the statistics and release the final data.

Sector insiders said March, April, and May are the guava season while other fruits, including mango and jackfruit, are also available in the market at that time, creating a huge supply of fruits in the country.

“But no main fruits are usually available in the market between November and February. This means if farmers harvest guava in this period, they can get high profits,” DAE’s Mozder said.

Challenges

Despite the increase in guava production, some challenges remain for the growers. Md Moniruzzaman Monir started guava cultivation after graduation to become an agriculture entrepreneur as he saw the fruit has huge potential. But he is frustrated now.

“There are policy-related problems, which is why many farmers are losing interest in guava farming. There is no possibility of changing your fate by growing guava,” he said.

He explained that imported fruits are available everywhere, which is a deterrent, adding guava farming will grow more if the government restricts fruit imports.

“Guava prices are Tk 20-25 per kg in the field, which rise to Tk 60 when the fruit reaches consumers. This means people are spending on guava, but we are not getting better prices,” he said.

“To grow a fine quality guava, farmers need to spend a lot on pesticides and other activities required to protect the plants. But the return is relatively low,” he added.

Monir said the government should consider establishing a marketing chain.

Retailer Ali said, “We have to buy per kg guava at Tk 50-60. There are wastages also. If I do not sell it at Tk 70 per kg, how can I make profits?”