Bangladesh must focus on storage, technology and year-round production to develop fruit processing, said Dr. Md. Mehedi Masud, fruit expert and former director of the Year-Round Fruit Production Project. The country produces about 15.2 million tonnes of fruit a year, but 65 percent of it comes in just four months, leaving shortages for the rest of the year and creating major challenges for storage, processing and export.

He was speaking at a roundtable titled "Fruit Processing: Problems and Prospects" at the Jagonews24 office in Badda, Dhaka, on Saturday, 27 June, moderated by editor K. M. Zeaul Haque.

A report puts fruit losses at about Tk 2,000 crore a year, but Dr. Masud said the real figure is much higher. If about 5 million tonnes are lost at an average of Tk 50 a kg, the loss is at least Tk 25,000 crore; at Tk 100 a kg it approaches Tk 50,000 crore. Preserving and processing this wasted fruit would do more for the economy than planting new orchards, he said, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) need to enter fruit processing with government support. The lack of cold storage is one of the biggest problems, and many entrepreneurs cannot store fruit before export.

• Katimon mango is now produced year-round; a mango selling at Tk 100 a kg in season fetches Tk 500 off-season, multiplying farmers' income.
• Rambutan and longan, relatives of litchi, are now grown commercially and extend the supply of litchi-type fruit by several months after the litchi season.
• Jackfruit has the greatest potential for year-round production. If Vietnam's year-round variety is expanded, jackfruit could be exported all year. Raw jackfruit sells for the equivalent of about Tk 1,500 a kg in New York supermarkets.

The roundtable was also attended by agricultural economist Dr. Jahangir Alam Khan; Dr. Md. Golam Ferdous Chowdhury, chief scientific officer of BARI's Postharvest Technology Division; Mohammad Arifur Rahman, director of DAE's exportable mango production project; BSTI deputy director Enamul Haque; PRAN Group managing director Elias Mridha; Hashem Foods managing director Md. Abul Hashem; former BAPA general secretary Md. Iktadul Haque; CAB vice president S. M. Nazer Hossain; Kaju and Coffee Agro executive director Md. Mahatab Ali; and agri-entrepreneurs Ismail Khan Shamim of Chapainawabganj and Sohel Rana of Naogaon.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.