Rising vegetable production and marketing

Bangladesh can take immense pride in its agricultural performance, only more so on the front of vegetable production. According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), the country is now the third largest global vegetables producer after China and India. If the size of the country is taken into consideration, it is punier indeed compared to the two giants holding the top and the next spot respectively. This makes Bangladesh's achievement even more enviable. The country that has to scramble for farmlands for production of vegetables and fruits should also be credited for production of fruits---both local and exotic. Currently, the country has to its credit a total production of 17.90 million tonnes of vegetables. Fruit production also does not lag far behind with an output of 14.3 million tonnes in the fiscal year 2021-22. Over the past three years, the yield should go up further. Thanks are due to agricultural scientists, extended support and coordination through field-level programmes carried out by agricultural extension officers and, above all, farmers' adaptability to smart and advanced cultivation methods.

Such outstanding agricultural performances, however, have not been rewarded well enough either symbolically or economically. In the past five years, the production of vegetables has gone up by 15 per cent, next only to the rate of increase recorded by Uzbekistan and Nepal. The performance deserves extra celebrations because of the diversity of vegetables and fruits now being grown by enterprising and educated farmers. If vegetables like broccoli and capsicum have been introduced successfully, the range of fruits has outpaced expectation. Strawberry, dragon fruit, cashew nut, orange and even dates from Arabian deserts have been added to the fruit basket. Over the past 20 years, the number of fruits cultivated has gone up from 56 to 72. The number of vegetables cultivated presently stands at around 100 types.

Clearly, there is a shift not only in the preference for cultivation of vegetables and fruits but also a remarkable change in the consumption pattern of the people. People now tend to eat more vegetables and fruits than before when the main staple was rice. However, the poor and the lower middle class can hardly afford such delicacies. The economic compulsion has also acted as a decisive factor. Cultivation of vegetables as a cash crop brings more return than that of paddy. Fruits in this case lead the way. These are positive indicators in terms of human health. The indication of a change in dietary pattern of the nation is most welcome.

However, there is a downside to the positive developments recorded so far. Vegetables and fruits cultivated are often laced with excessive pesticide apart from the indiscriminate use of chemical fertilisers. A lot needs to be done in order to minimise application of such fertilisers and pesticides. The field-level agriculture extension officers should play a decisive role in maintaining a balance. Yet another aspect of agriculture is the economy of scale. Farmers should be the prime beneficiaries of the rising farm output.

Unfortunately, vested interests like the organised middlemen and rent seekers often disrupt the marketing mechanism by their unholy intervention in the process. This undesirable culture has to be dismantled. If a pool of trucks is pressed into service by the government through Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) and a freight compartment added for transportation of vegetables from production zones to urban centres, the vested interest groups of market chain can be eliminated. The growers deserve such government patronage.