Quality fruit and food products are made in Bangladesh, but poor publicity, weak consumer awareness and gaps between farmers and scientists keep the sector from its potential, CAB's vice-president said.
CropsPoor coordination between research institutes, the DAE, the Department of Agricultural Marketing and entrepreneurs was holding back Bangladesh's fruit processing industry, BARI chief scientific officer Dr Md Golam Ferdous Chowdhury told a Jago News round table on 27 June 2026.
To realise the potential of Bangladesh's fruit processing industry, international standards and destination-specific compliance must be ensured, not just production, a BSTI official said.
Eaten more than 100 billion times a year, the banana is the world's most consumed fruit and, after wheat, rice and maize, its fourth most important food crop.
CropsKhulna district produced more than 80,000 tonnes of fruit on about 25,000 hectares in 2024-25, yet by June 2026 it had no cold storage, processing or organised fruit market, and no fruit had been exported from the district.
A hobby started in 2003 has grown into a 50-acre orchard of about 50 local and foreign fruit trees on the hills of Mirsarai in Chattogram.
The Serbian town of Arilje supplies about a fifth of the country's raspberry exports, but growers face a drought-hit crop and prices that do not cover costs.
More than 30 per cent of Chapainawabganj's mangoes now sell online, but sellers say the cost of Facebook advertising paid in dollars is eroding their profits and raising prices.
FAO data show China is the world's largest processor of fruit and crops, and that Asian countries dominate the global top 10.
The Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture has released BINA Sofeda-1, a sapodilla variety with fruits of 250 to 450 grams, developed through gamma irradiation.
Amrapali, the BARI Aam-3 variety, has displaced Fazli, Himsagar, Langra and Gopalbhog to lead Bangladesh's mango cultivation, exports and popularity.
BARI's Fruit Research Station in Binodpur, Rajshahi, is breeding new fruit varieties, conserving germplasm and adapting foreign fruits for Bangladeshi farmers.
BARI's Regional Horticulture Research Centre at Lebukhali, Patuakhali, is developing fruit and vegetable varieties suited to the south, producing seedlings and training farmers.
