Agriculture Minister Dr. Muhammad Abdur Razzaque said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given 2 acres of land in Purbachal of Dhaka to the Ministry of Agriculture for setting up a modern packaging house. A world-class state-of-the-art pack house and accreditation laboratory will be set up there to boost exports of agricultural products. We are going to implement the project soon.
“Once it is built, the export of fruits and vegetables will be increased by many times to Europe, Middle East and others countries, which will be able to make a huge contribution to the overall economy of the country,” he said.
The agriculture minister came up with the assertion while speaking as the chief guest at a seminar on 'Modern Pack House Facilities and Accredited Laboratory Construction' organized by Horticulture Export Development Foundation (Hortex) at the auditorium of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council at Farmgate in the capital on Tuesday.
Abdur Razzaque said agriculture is moving towards mechanisation and commercialization. It must be modern. So, agricultural products should get access to international market. Internationally accepted certification for packaging and food is one of the main obstacles. If the pack houses and lab are set up in Purbachal, these obstacles will be removed.
Agriculture Secretary Md. Mesbahul Islam presided over the workshop. Among others Additional Secretary (Extension) of the Ministry of Agriculture Md. Hasanuzzaman Kallol, Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council Sheikh Mohammad Bakhtiyar, Managing Director of Hortex Foundation Md. Manjurul Hannan and Former Director General of the Department of Agricultural Extension Md. Hamidur Rahman spoke there.
Dr. Mohamad Kamrul Hasan, Professor of Bangladesh Agricultural University presented the keynote paper. Experts from various universities, research institutes, researchers, fruit and vegetable exporters associations, value chain experts, laboratory experts and scientists and representatives were also present.
It is to be noted that fresh fruits and vegetables are being exported from Bangladesh to different countries of the world including European Union countries. Besides, the demand for processed food has been increasing day by day. Fresh vegetables and fruits are exported from Bangladesh to about 43 countries including United Kingdom, Italy, France, Greece, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands, Middle Eastern countries, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka. In the 2019-20 fiscal year, fresh vegetables and fruits were exported worth $ 165 million from Bangladesh. Besides, potatoes have been exported worth $23 million. The world's market size is about 10 thousand billion US dollars.
