Bangladesh vegetable production has increased five times in 40 years
According to FAO, vegetable production has increased five times in the past 40 years. Bangladesh has scored 3rd in global vegetable production, next to China and India. The farmers are getting a huge profit from vegetable production which is changing their life. Literate youths are joining the industry and are achieving targets with the use of improved technology and their talents.
The land under vegetable cultivation in the country has increased at the rate of 5.0 per cent in the last decade. The rate of increase of vegetable production was 6.0 per cent in the last three years. Land under vegetable cultivation during the current Rabi season has been set at 528 thousand hectares. Every year 10 million MT of potato is produced of which 100 thousand MT are exported abroad.
Exports
Vegetable and fruits are now exported to about 50 countries around the world. 60 per cent of the total quantity is exported to the Middle East and the remaining 40 per cent to European and other countries.
The exported vegetables includes yard-long bean, cowpea, cucumber, snake gourd, bitter gourd, tomatoes, papaya, eggplant, pumpkin, lady's finger, pumpkin, amaranth, spinach, Indian spinach, cauliflower, cabbage, green chilii, taro, coco yam, green papaya, plantain, jute leaf, bottle gourd leaf, arum leaf, water lily, mustard green, bean seed, jackfruit seed, aroid, etc.
To increase earnings from export, the government has taken initiatives to export salmonella-free betel leaf and bacteria-free vegetable. The demand for Bangladeshi vegetables is increasing in the South Asian sub-continent and the Gulf region day by day.
A survey report shows that 40 per cent of the total vegetables is wasted from production to the consumers' level. Officials believe that much of this waste could be minimized if there were improved storage facilities and good communication systems.
source: thefinancialexpress-bd.com
