Yasir Wardad
When all other major export items witnessed a poor growth, the agricultural products including fruits, vegetable and cash crop showed a tremendous performance in the first three months of the current financial year (FY'13), Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data showed.
Bangladesh received nearly $134 million with a growth of more than 17 per cent in July-September period in FY'13 by exporting the items while the volume was $114 million in the corresponding period of last fiscal.
The amount was nearly 27 per cent higher than its target.
Vegetable export grew 36 per cent to nearly $27 million against the target of $18.78 million in the July-September period of FY'13 while it was $ 19.84 million in the corresponding period of last fiscal.
According to the EPB, expatriate Bangladeshis living in the Middle East, Far-East Asia, the UK and some European countries are the main buyers of the vegetables sent from the country.
Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, Spain Sweden, Greece, Ireland, Canada, Malaysia and Singapore also import a good quantity of Bangladeshi vegetables, an EPB official said.
Fruits export grew to 8 per cent to $17.6 million in July-September this fiscal year, up from 16.28 million in the same period of last fiscal.
The EPB has set a target to export fruits worth $71.8 million this fiscal.
According to the EPB, the country exports jackfruit, mango, lemon, guava, litchi, lotkon, Indian olive, blackberry, pomelo, wood apple, etc.
Officials said the export will be increased further in coming years as new items have been included in the basket.
"The Export Promotion Bureau, Hortex Foundation and Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute jointly conducted tests on 'Shelf Life' of green banana and pineapple which is necessary for sanitary and phytosanitary requirement of the buyers over the world," Assistant General Manager of Horticulture Export Development Foundation (Hortex Foundation) Mitul K Saha said.
Talking to the FE he said the country has started exporting 'Jara Lemon' again after meeting all necessary requirements of the buyers.
Mitul said that the sector's export could reach a billion dollar mark in next few years with appropriating the global standardization method 'Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Policy' or GAP Policy.
It will help Bangladesh enter the mainstream export market that could boost the shipments of agricultural products of Bangladesh, he added.
The shipment of spices is also increasing significantly following a great demand of Bangladeshi spices around the world.
However, the country fetched $6.4 million by exporting spices in the first three months of FY'13 with an outstanding 103 per cent growth while overall export earnings from spices was $13.7 million in the last fiscal.
Cut flower hardly maintained its growth by fetching $14.70 in the period, 5.5 per cent up from the corresponding period of last fiscal.
Overall earning from flower was $50.5 million last fiscal.
Tea export showed a good sign as it achieved a 23 per cent growth but another cash crop tobacco witnessed a negative growth of more than twenty per cent in the July-September period of FY'13 over FY'12.
Agricultural products' over all income was nearly $403 million in FY'12 while the target for FY'13 has been fixed at $445.68 million.
The sector achieved 30 per cent of its target by September, EPB said.
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from : http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com
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