Agriculture and Home Affairs Advisor Lieutenant General (Retd.) Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said that production of local fruits should be increased to meet the nutritional needs of the people.
The advisor said this while speaking as the chief guest at the inauguration ceremony of the National Fruit Fair-2025 at the Krishibid Institution (KIB) premises in Khamarbari in the capital today, Thursday (June 19, 2025).
He said that this fruit fair will be held in all districts and upazilas of the country. Its purpose is to introduce local fruits to everyone. Many people do not know local fruits. They eat foreign fruits like grapes and apples. However, the quality and taste of our fruits are better than foreign fruits.
Urging the countrymen to eat local fruits, the advisor said that eating local fruits will also save foreign currency. We are sending a lot of local fruits abroad. Which includes – mango, jackfruit, guava. Mango has started being sent to China again. Farmers will benefit if exports increase.
Speaking as the chief guest at a seminar titled ‘Domestic Fruits in Health, Nutrition and Commercialization: Current Perspective, Challenges and Prospects’ at the auditorium of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute in Khamarbari on the occasion of the fair, the advisor said that despite the expected progress in domestic fruit production, foreign fruits have to be imported. Every year, foreign exchange of Tk 10,000 crore is spent to import about 8.5 lakh tons of fruits into the country. About 85 percent of the imported fruits are apples, oranges, mangoes and grapes. However, it is hopeful that oranges and mangoes are being cultivated in the country on a limited scale, which will gradually reduce dependence on fruit imports.
The advisor called on everyone to work together to build a sustainable, safe and nutritious food-rich Bangladesh and said, let us all plant at least one fruit tree this year and develop the habit of eating at least one fruit every day.
The seminar was presided over by Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian.
