Reza Mahmud :
Bangladesh’s vegetable export potential largely remains untapped due to lack of necessary infrastructure and supportive policies.
Lacks of adequate cargo, scanner machines, cooling chain, certification facility and high airfare hurt the export potential, the business leaders said.
The Ministry of Agriculture said, vegetable production has been increased by seven times during the last 12 years.
Md. Sayedul Islam, Secretary of the ministry said it during a press briefing in his office in the Secretariat on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the ministry arranged a three day vegetable exhibition starting on Monday to be ended on March 2.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension, one crore 97 lakh 18 thousand tonnes of vegetables were produced in nine lakh 35 thousand hectares of land in the fiscal year 2020-21.
Besides, one crore 84 lakh 47 thousand tonnes of vegetables were produced in nine lakh hectares of land in the previous year.
Meanwhile, 82,510 tonnes of vegetables had been exported to the Middle East region and other countries in 2019-20 financial years.
Vegetable exporters said the volume of earning in the sector will be increased enormously if the problems solved and if there are adequate support of the government.
They said there are huge potentials of expanding vegetable exports in Europe, America and other developed countries.
Sources said, the country earned one
billion US dollar from vegetable exporting in 2021.
The government made a target to earn double from the agro product in 2023.
As per the target, the Department of Agricultural Marketing has drafted a road map to increase the vegetable exporting.
The department has already submitted its road map to the Agriculture Ministry last year.
When contacted, Mohammad Monsur, General Secretary of Bangladesh Fruits, Vegetables and Allied Products Exporters’ Association told The New Nation on Sunday, “Developed countries demand proper certifications of vegetables production processes but there are lacks of laboratories for do it.”
“Besides, cargo crisis also a major problem which is keeping us lagging behind to catch the enormous opportunity of exporting huge quantity of vegetable,” the business leader said.
He said that they need minimum 10 scanner machines in the airport but the government has arranged two only.
Meanwhile, Rashed Shamim Chowdhury, vegetable exporter and Proprietor of Alubari Agro products ltd said, “We exports the surplus vegetables and earned valuable foreign currency. But there are negligees of government offices in this sector.”
He said, “In case of other countries, AC containers are used to send potato fields to collect and carry the items to the airports. But in our country it is unthinkable yet.”
“Banks are reluctant to give us loan though we are helping the economy and the agriculture and the firmers,” he said.
“The government gives us incentives but to realize it we have to run from table to table of the officers,” the business man said.
When contacted, A. Gaffar Khan, Director General of the Department of Agricultural Marketing, told The New Nation on Sunday, “The Agriculture Minister is very much keen to facilitate increase of agro product exporting.”
He said, as per the efforts of the minister, two scanner machines have been already set in air port only for vegetable exporting services.
He said that only Bangladeshi communities import our vegetables in European countries while the natives of the continent want standard certifications comprise with production process details.
“They want to know that what pesticides and fertilizers have been used in those productions. We are trying to comply their demand. Immediately we have started construction of a laboratory in Purbachol in this regards,” the DG said.
