Market Assessment with Food Chain System and Export Potentiality of Horticultural Crops in Bangladesh

Abstract

The present study was conducted from 2010 to 2014 attempt to forecast the domestic market chain and export status of horticultural crops specially the fruits and vegetable production, estimation of domestic demand, determining the nature of market, integration of domestic and international markets, estimating growers profitability, identifying the efficient marketing channel and examining export potentials of fresh vegetables and fruits including their problems and prospects. Vegetables are occupied 5.45% & fruits are occupied 0.94% of the total cultivated land of the country. Farmers of Bangladesh are handicapped by inadequate knowledge of efficient harvest and storage practices. Market information is frequently unavailable, and harvest timing is asynchronous with market requirements. Vegetable production without supervision causes poor quality production, high percentages of rejected vegetables due to poor post-harvest handling, rough transportation and also related to the presenting irregular shape and size, different maturity indices, insects and diseases infestation, mechanical injury and moisture losses. The low level of consumption of horticultural products in the value chain that are hindering the retail prices of fruits and vegetables. About one third of total grown fruits and vegetables are lost during transport from producers to consumers, which is affecting negatively on prices. Another reason for higher prices at the retail level are the profit earned by middlemen, who play an important role in Bangladesh in bringing fruits and vegetables from producers to markets. Finally, prices increase due to the absence of modern storage and transportation facilities such as cold stores and refrigerated vans. As a result, retailers of fruits and vegetables gain a larger profit margins, and the growers on average can receive only 71% and 48% of retail prices for fruits and vegetables respectively compared in the case of cereals. Several measures could be adopted for improving the value chain of fruits and vegetables. In order to encourage small and medium scale farmers to grow fruits and vegetables the government and non-governmental organizations could promote the formation of marketing groups and cooperatives. The volume of exported vegetables has been increasing day by day. So it has a great prospect to earn foreign exchange by exporting vegetables from Bangladesh. All categories of exporters reported that many a times, the quality of Bangladeshi vegetables is not acceptable by the foreign buyers and some of the countries have stopped importing Bangladeshi vegetables because of poor quality standards. 21% GDP of Bangladesh comes from agro based productions, 48% labor force are involved for agro production and the export value of agricultural products is 12%.More than 100 horticultural crops are exported from Bangladesh. Export of fresh fruits and vegetables (FFVs) from Bangladesh increased from 9,000 tons in 1992-93 to 48428 tons in 2010-2011. The major export market comprises UK (46%), Italy (8%), other EU countries (3%) and Middle East countries (43%). Export of vegetables in UK market is highly profitable and also value added but it has lengthy customs procedure. Although, a high amount of vegetable was exported in the Middle East countries due to its easy customs procedure and high value addition. More than 50 fresh fruits and vegetables are exported to UK alone. Besides, fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen products about 250-300 tons at a value of about US$ 3 million are exported for both ethnic and mainstream markets. The quantity of total exported fruits and vegetables were 29100 MT in 2004-2005, 33626 MT in 2007-2008 and 48428 MT in 2010-2011 with a value of US$ 4640000, US$ 69120000 and US$ 109410000 respectively. However, the trends of increasing horticultural crops occupy a significant position in our export earnings. Development of the horticultural sector depends to a large extent on the existence of the development of the value-chain of the products and on the efficiency of the marketing system. While little value addition takes place in the form of sorting, grading, quality control and packaging, etc. for fresh products, the semi processed and processed products have reached the branding stage. Special zones for vegetable and fruits exporting can be encouraged by the government providing various services in these zones including cooling chain arrangements, development and growth of packaging and infrastructure facilities. A big stimulus can also be provided by quickly disbursing the money given as export subsidies in this sector and institutional support throughout the marketing chain.