A day-long workshop on the current status of horticulture crop export and identification of various barriers to export was organized by Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) in Kazi Badruddoza Auditorium of the Institute on Wednesday.
The workshop was organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) under the program 'Preparation of Project Proposal for Technology Development and Implementation to Overcome Export Barriers to
Horticultural crops.’
In the morning, Bari's Director-General, Dr. Md. Nazirul Islam inaugurated the workshop as the chief guest. Bari's director (horticultural research center) Dr. Abeda Khatun was the special guest at the event.
Md. Miyaruddin, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Professor. MA Rahim, FAO's former value chain specialist, Md. Saleh Ahmed, FAO Dhaka National Program Consultant, and Bangladesh Representative Faraji bint Ferdous, program expert of the Agricultural Research Foundation (Horticulture) were present. Shahabuddin Ahmed was the keynote speaker.
Speaking on the occasion, Director General said, “The contribution of the agriculture sector to the country's GDP is about 16%. 80% of the working population is directly or indirectly involved in agriculture. At present, about 100 varieties of fresh horticultural crops are exported from Bangladesh to more than 40 countries in the world. The major export markets of Bangladesh are the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Qatar, Russia, Italy, and Kuwait. The demand for Bangladeshi horticultural products is increasing day by day in the world market. But we need to improve crop production and post-harvest management in line with international standards to ensure safe and quality export of produce.”
"Our country lacks awareness of farmers about the benefits of quality production, irregular supply, inefficient pest management, post-harvest management,” he added.