The importance of food preservation is next to production of food. Preservation helps build a buffer stock of food and ensures price stabilisation through steady supply of the items round the year. Food preservation enables an individual, a community or a nation to remain in a safe zone even in lean periods. It is because of this that human beings throughout ages have saved a part of the surplus food to meet emergency need and ensure food security.
It is in line with this that Bangladesh, like every other nation, has always tried to preserve a part of the food grains especially rice it produced. But during the period since independence, the country produced only a part of the food grains it needed to feed the burgeoning population. Requisite quantities of rice and wheat had to be imported every year to meet the shortfall.
During that period, the country had limited storage facilities. This reality quite often led to short supply of the food items to the market, as a result people suffered immeasurably, particularly during the 1974 famine. It is believed that thousands of people died simply for short supply of food on the one hand and lack of access to food for a large segment of the population on the other. Post-independence governments could not yet prepare exact lists of Freedom Fighters, Rajakars and the martyred intellectuals, let alone make the list of the dead during '74 famine.
The food security situation during the '74 famine becomes evident from the fact that rice price suddenly jumped to Tk10 per kilogram when a day labourer could earn only TK1.0 or Tk1.50 a day. The famine more than anything else demonstrated what can happen when a country does not have a minimum stock of food. This signifies the importance of food preservation.
Potato was the third item after rice and wheat that was preserved in cold storages. Today Bangladesh produces slightly more than11 million tonnes of potato against the annual demand for 7.5-8.0 million, as the agriculture ministry estimates. However, Bangladesh Cold Storage Association disagrees with the ministry's claim. According to it, the total production did not exceed 8.5 million tonnes. Whatever be the exact volume, the storage facility for potato is just 3.0 million tonnes now, which is far less than necessary. A huge quantity of this starchy vegetable is wasted annually for lack of adequate storage facilities.
Despite near-sufficiency in production, potato market has remained volatile. Last year potato was selling in the market at a record price of Tk75-85 per kg. In the face of prolonged market volatility, the agriculture ministry has almost doubled the allocation for potato preservation facility in the current fiscal year --- from Tk71.4 million to Tk137.2 million, The Financial Express reports. Under the project 450 model houses would be built in 17 districts. These houses will preserve 1.0m tonnes of potato. It is a good initiative but far from enough. Storage facilities for potato will have to be increased manifold. If cold storages are established in adequate number, those will reduce potato wastage by a big margin, make it available round the year and stabilise the price situation.
However, potato is not the only item wasted for insufficient preservation facilities. Production of horticultural items like fruits and vegetables has also increased manifold over the years though production of those, particularly fruit, is still far behind the demand. According to the Department of Agricultural Marketing, Bangladesh produced 1.84 crore tonnes of vegetables and 1.24 crore tonnes of fruits in the fiscal year 2019-20. The present volume is supposed to be a bit larger. Because of seasonal nature, the above crops are available in abundant quantity during the harvesting period but huge quantities of them is wasted annually for lack of suitable preservation facilities. According to another contemporary, one-third of the country's horticultural produce like fruits and vegetables go to waste due to lack of post-harvest management such as proper system of transportation and scarcity of storage and preservation facilities. Cold storages used for potato preservation are not fit for storing fruits and vegetables. Wastage is the prime reason behind increased price of such perishable items. In such a situation, the Department of Agricultural Marketing is reported to have taken an initiative to set up 25 specialised cold storages with a combined capacity of storing 3,000 tonnes of vegetables or fruits. Evidently, this storage capacity is nowhere near the requirement.
To meet the shortfall, Bangladesh has to import a large volume of fruits round the year. Fruit import surges before and during the month of Ramadan. According to sources, Bangladesh spent roughly US$450 million in 2021-22 to procure those. It is likely to be more now. If adequate storage facility for fruit and vegetables is built up, supply situation during the lean period will improve and help stabilise the price level.
Bangladesh is an agricultural country with a large percentage of population engaged in cultivation. The country has given emphasis on increasing crop production through intensive research, introduction of high yielding varieties and mechanisation of agriculture. Crop production has also increased as a result. But due importance was not given to investment and development of food processing industry. This subsector accounts for about 8.0 per cent manufacturing output and contributes less than 2.0 per cent to the GDP. Because of lack of preservation facility a huge quantity of fruits like mango, jackfruit, guava and pineapple is wasted during the harvesting period. Due emphasis should be given to increasing storage capacity and development of agro-processing industry to maximise the benefits of increased agricultural production.
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