Vapour Heat Treatment plant to sweeten prospect of mango export

The government will set up Vapour Heat Treatment plant to facilitate the export of mango and other fresh agricultural products.

In this regard, the Ministry of Agriculture has taken up a project proposal titled “Increasing export of mango and other fresh agri-products through installing Vapor Heat Treatment Plant” which has been sent to the Planning Commission for approval, a senior official of the planning ministry told The Business Post.

According to the project proposal, Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) in association with Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) would install Vapour Heat Treatment Plants separately at Gabtoli in Dhaka and Poba upazila of Rajshahi.

The cost of the project is estimated at Tk 49 crore, of which Tk 27 crore will come from the BADC and Tk 22.91 crore from the BMDA. The project will be implemented by June 2024.

However, in a recent meeting, the project evaluation committee recommended setting up a single treatment plant as a pilot project.

It also recommended the ministry concerned revise the project proposal to complete the project within two years instead of three.

Member of the Planning Commission Ramendra Nath Biswas said the project will help export 1400 metric tons of mongo abroad.

Once implemented, it will create job and encourage farmers to grow mangoes and earn forex, he added.

Besides, the waste of mango will be reduced by 10 per cent while the quality of this popular and delicious fruits will be ensured through the treatment.

Bangladesh is among the top 10 countries in the world in mango production and there is high demand for Bangladeshi mangoes in Europe, America and many other parts of the world.

There is a sufficient production of mango in Bangladesh. A lot of fruits get wasted due to lack of proper processing and storage system.

According to the Department of Agricultural Marketing, 20-30 per cent of mango yield are wasted during harvesting as both temperature and humidity remain high at that time.

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), there are 235,000 acres of mango orchards in the country.

Generally, each tree produces on average of 77 kilogrammes of mango. A total of 12.22 lakh metric tons of this summer fruit were produced in the country in Fiscal Year 2019-20.