INADEQUACIES IN TRANSPORT, PROCESSING, STORAGE
Bangladesh loses Tk 3,391.71cr fruits, vegetables a year

Penuka Sultana

Bangladesh annually loses fruits and vegetables worth Tk 3,391.71 crore due to lack or inadequacies in transportation, processing and storage.
   A study done by Bangladesh Agricultural University this year shoes that inadequate transportation, storage, processing and marketing facilities cause the loss.
   It identified ignorance of the stakeholders, absence of monitoring by the authorities and the use of chemicals contribute to the recurring loss each year.
   The study estimated the loss of fruits at approximately Tk 3,065.6 crore, of vegetables at nearly Tk 3,26.11 crore.
   Jackfruit growers sustain the highest loss of about 44 per cent and pineapple growers follow with 40 per cent loss due to fruit borer, soft rot, stem-bleeding as well as the use of growth promoting and ripening chemicals in Mymensingh, Gazipur and Madhupur.
   A teacher of the university, Kamrul Hassan did the study, ‘Post Harvest Loss Assessment: A Study to Formulate Policy for Socioeconomic Loss Reduction of the Stakeholders on account of Fruits and Vegetables’ in eight districts of Rajshahi, Chapainawabgonj, Tangail, Bogra, Pabna, Sylhet, Dinajpur, Mymensingh, Gazipur, Jessore, Comilla and Narshingdi.
   The study found an increased use of ripening chemicals in recent years resulted in reduced nutritional quality of fruits and vegetables by 21 per cent.
   Besides, it says, the use of the chemicals is harmful for the consumers.
   A Dhaka University Institute of Nutrition and Food Science teacher Sheikh Nazrul Islam told New Age that indiscriminate use of un-recommended chemicals posed a serious threat to human health. He said that the chemicals damage kidney and can cause cancer and retard the growth of children.
   The study said that growers as well as traders sustain losses for carrying bananas, papayas, pineapples, citruses, litchis, jackfruits, leafy vegetables, cauliflowers, brinjals, okras and cucumbers in traditional in traditional ways to markets.
   Growers and traders also sustain significant losses, it said, due to rot, degeneration or other factors, as no proper post harvest sorting, grading and packaging are done to ensure produce quality during transportation to local selling centres and the wholesale markets at a distance.
   According to the study, about 84 per cent of the growers use growth chemicals for early marketing of many fruits and vegetables like lichi, pineapple, mango, tomato, brinjal and okra at immature stages to maximise profit.
   Bangladesh grows 110 lakh tonnes of fruits and vegetables on about 873,000 hectares, which is far below the minimum per head average requirement of 400 grams per day, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics report of 2009.
   Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology head of the department of chemical engineering, Professor Dil Afroza Begum told the New Age the present status of preservation and packing fruits and vegetables in Bangladesah was far from satisfactory.
   She said that with better preservation and packing the losses in fruits and vegetables could be reduced drastically like in the developed countries.
   To achieve it, she said, the traders have to use admissible level of preservatives also low-cost cooling technology to store perishables in rural areas.
   She said that the government had the responsibility to monitor the situation to ensure compliance.

https://www.newagebd.com/2010/sep/03/busi.html#1