• Strong interest in cheaper iftar
• Fruit now supplied all year round
• Sales up 40 per cent in Ramadan
• Benefits of the year-round fruit production project

At one time the country had no fruit outside the seasons. When Ramadan fell out of season, people relied on foreign fruit, and the extra demand during the month was met through imports. Over time, however, farmers have turned to commercial production of local fruit, and this Ramadan local fruit is meeting the extra demand.

Where local fruit was once found in the market only in the "honey months" (May-June), that has changed, and a range of fruit is now available all year. The success of commercial fruit farming over two decades amounts to a quiet revolution in fruit production. As a result, even though it is not the season, iftar this year has not depended so much on imported fruit.

Market insiders say that as incomes rise, eating habits change, and urbanisation is changing them too. People now eat much more fruit. This Ramadan, buying of locally grown apples, oranges, grapes, malta, pomegranates, guava, papaya, jujube, pineapple, bananas, watermelon and other fruit has risen sharply, cutting imports of foreign fruit.

Bairat Mia, owner of Khaja Fruit Store in Badamtoli in the capital, an importer and long-time trader, told Jago News that importers themselves are selling South African green apples at Tk 260-270 a kg and Kashmiri pears at Tk 290-295. Importing Indian grapes costs over Tk 240. In retail markets buyers pay Tk 20-50 more.

He said the rising dollar, the government's discouragement of imports and higher VAT and taxes have made fruit imports record-high in cost this year. Locally produced fruit is much cheaper by comparison, and with affordability and supply rising, the trade in local fruit is growing.

Department of Agricultural Extension data show Bangladesh is now second in the world in annual jackfruit production, seventh in mango and eighth in guava. Fruits such as jamun, litchi, jujube, star fruit, wood apple, lemon, pineapple, latkan, custard apple and sapodilla are also being grown commercially in larger quantities, and to meet growing demand the cultivation of foreign fruits such as strawberry, dragon fruit and malta has reached new heights.

With foreign fruit prices up on one side and local fruit plentiful on the other, low and lower-middle income people, and not just the well-off, now depend on local fruit.

Yusuf Hossain, buying fruit at Rampura Bazar, said pineapple, guava and papaya are now everyday companions at iftar. They are cheap and satisfying, and fruit is now easy to find in the market in a way it was not before.

The Department of Agricultural Marketing says that this Ramadan, with foreign fruit dearer, buying of local fruit has risen by 40-45 per cent. About 2,000-2,500 tonnes of guava is being sold a day, double last year. Sales of papaya and pineapple are up 30 per cent, and sales of local Sagar and Sabri bananas have also risen sharply.

The Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2022 report of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) shows that daily fruit consumption has risen almost threefold in six years. In 2016, average daily fruit intake per person was 35.80 grams.

Fruit trader Shahabuddin said imports of foreign fruit such as apples, oranges, malta and grapes have fallen this year. Even though world prices fell, letters of credit could not be opened because of the dollar shortage. The dollar that cost Tk 102 last year now costs Tk 120, and imports will fall further if this continues. At such a time local fruit is becoming people's mainstay.

Data show fruit imports have fallen steadily over the past few years. In the last financial year (2022-23), 5 lakh 85 thousand 44 tonnes of foreign fruit came into the country, against 8 lakh 9 thousand 796 tonnes the year before (2021-22). That means imports fell by 2 lakh 23 thousand 752 tonnes, or 27.63 per cent, in the latest year. In percentage terms, apples and grapes fell the most, down 29 per cent on the previous year. Dried and fresh oranges were down 25 per cent, mandarins 16 per cent, and other fruit (malta, pears, dragon fruit, pomegranates and so on) 37 per cent.

Agricultural economist Prof Dr Rashedul Hasan said that although imports have fallen, the supply of fruit in the market has not, as local fruit is taking their place. Year-round supply has grown, and so has buyers' purchasing power. Growing fruit all year is also bringing economic success, and many farmers and small entrepreneurs are giving up grain crops for fruit. "This is a good sign, because fruit is a more lucrative crop," he said.

Hamidur Rahman, former director general of the Department of Agricultural Extension, told Jago News that some good government initiatives to increase the availability of fruit had paid off, and one project has now made it possible to supply fruit all year round.

He said fruit consumption has risen as a result, with per capita intake up almost threefold over the past decade, and the government's Year-round Fruit Production for Nutrition Improvement Project has worked very well.

Dr Mehedi Masud, director of the year-round fruit production project and a fruit specialist, said the project has made year-round cultivation of dragon fruit and guava possible, and the benefits are now being felt. Growers are cultivating fruit such as cassava and strawberry, and commercial production of year-round jackfruit and mango has begun.

Another big success of the project, he said, was turning Naogaon into the mango capital, where the most mangoes are now produced and the most are exported. The project has shown great success not just in domestic production but in exports too.

"Since the project began we have raised average fruit intake to 100 grams. Our target now is 250 grams," Mehedi Masud said.

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