Green-and-white pastry cake decorated with jackfruit pods. Beside it, jackfruit jali kebab, pakora, nakshi pitha, chips, bread, stick kebab, halwa, shashlik and various kinds of pitha. This unusual display at the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) stall at the National Fruit Fair 2026 drew strong interest from visitors.

Alongside local fruits, a variety of fruit-based processed products are on show at the three-day National Fruit Fair, which began on 18 June on the grounds of the Krishibid Institution Bangladesh (KIB) at Khamarbari in the capital. The fair runs until Saturday.

The DAM stall displays about 20 kinds of processed jackfruit products, including jackfruit pitha, pudding, biscuits, bora (fritters), cupcakes, patishapta, pickle, cutlets and barfi made from jackfruit seeds.

Department representative Al Amin Sarkar said entrepreneurs had made these jackfruit- and mango-based products and brought them to the fair. Work has been done for a long time under a programme to make the fullest use of jackfruit, and as a result the number of entrepreneurs making jackfruit-based products has grown.

Entrepreneur Chumki told Jagonews24 at the stall that a great deal of jackfruit is grown in her area of Gazipur. Because it is a seasonal fruit, she began making various products to preserve it, and these are now sold online. Jackfruit Kashmiri pickle, chips and kebabs are in particular demand, she said.

Besides jackfruit, the fair also features foods made from mango, watermelon and green coconut pudding, and many stalls display a wide range of local and less common fruits.

After visiting the fair in the morning, Minister for Agriculture and for Fisheries and Livestock Mohammad Amin Ur Rashid said a kind of revolution had taken place in fruit production in the country. Singara, samosa, kebabs and other foods are being made from jackfruit, and they are highly nutritious, he said, adding that various countries are showing interest in Bangladesh's jackfruit-based food products.

The Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) stall had mangoes of different varieties, pineapple, dragon fruit, sapodilla and more. Less common fruits such as goran, lata and pashur fruit also attracted visitors.

At the stall of a firm called Tasty Mushroom, entrepreneur Mehedi has brought mushroom sweets and mushroom chips in four flavours. Because they are comparatively cheap, buyers are responding well, he said.

Dewan Agro Farm's stall had nine kinds of mango along with jackfruit, bael (wood apple) and dheua (monkey jack). A salesperson said all the fruit was grown on the firm's own farm in Narsingdi.

Mangoes were more prominent than jackfruit at the fair. Alongside popular local varieties such as Langra, Amrapali, Nag Fazli, BARI-4, Haribhanga and Surjapuri, foreign and improved varieties including Thai Katimon, Pokri, Honeydew, banana mango, Miyazaki, apple mango and King of Chakapat were on display.

Rows of mango varieties filled the large stalls, while at the neighbouring BADC stall everything from foreign dates to lesser-known local fruits caught visitors' eyes.

Aslamul Haque, who came from Mohammadpur, said he visits the fair almost every year because the fruit here is of better quality than in the market.

There are also various food products. Several stalls sell juices of mango, black plum, pineapple, lychee and other fruits for Tk 50 to 150. Mushroom cake, naru and pitha are also attracting visitors.

A total of 67 stalls are taking part. Government and private organisations including the Department of Agricultural Marketing, BADC and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) are showcasing their products and innovations.

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