The Minister of Agriculture Md Abdur Razzaque has instructed the officials of the Agriculture Ministry and various agencies under it to prepare a specific action plan-roadmap for the export of 1 lakh metric tons of mango every year in the next 3-5 years.
The minister was speaking as the chief guest at a national workshop titled 'Improved Management of Mango for Increasing Mango Exports' organized by Hortex Foundation at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) auditorium at Farmgate in the capital on Monday afternoon.
The Agriculture Minister said the country produces approximately 2.5 million tonnes of mangoes per year. But only a few hundred tons of mangoes are used for exporting. Authorities have to work towards the target of exporting 1 lakh tons of mangoes per year. To this end, the embassies of Bangladesh in different countries will be contacted to form a committee consisting of different officials, prepare a roadmap and find new markets for mangoes.
The minister further said that a comprehensive programme is being taken to increase mango exports. Work is underway to identify export barriers. Meanwhile, work is underway to set up 3 vacuum heat treatment plants to ensure safe mangoes. Good agricultural practices have been implemented to keep mangoes safe from production to shipment. Work is underway to issue phytosanitary certificates. As a result, mango exports have increased 5 times this year as compared to last year. The amount of exports will increase many times in the future.
The workshop was chaired by Md Mesbahul Islam, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture. BARC executive chairman Sheikh Md Bakhtiyar, Director General of the Department of Agricultural Extension Md.Asadullah and Director of NATP-2 Project Md Matiar Rahman spoke as special guests at the workshop. The meeting was attended by senior officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, heads of various agencies, mango farmers, traders, vegetable and fruit exporters.
According to the workshop, mango production in the country is increasing rapidly every year. But the amount of export is much less than the production. According to DEA, about 2.5 million tons of mangos have been produced in the country in 2019-20; In contrast, 263 metric tons of mangoes have been exported. However, as a result of the initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture, 1623 metric tons of mangoes have been exported in the current year 2020-2021. Which is 5 times more than last year.
According to the workshop, a large part of the mango produced in the country - on average, about 25 percent is wasted at the post-harvest stage. The amount of loss is 3,600 crore Tk per year.
New market exploration, improved selection according to export demand, phytosanitary methods and good agricultural practices of the importing country to harness the huge potential of mango exports Emphasis is placed on workshops on management.
