(BSS) – Agriculture adviser Lieutenant General (Retd.) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury today said the country needs to enhance production of the local fruits to meet the nutritional demand of the people.

“Most of the people do not know about the local fruits …they eat exotic fruits like apple and grapes, but quality and tests of our fruits are more than the exotic fruits”, he said.

Jahangir Alam, also the adviser for home said this while addressing the inaugural function of the National Fruit Fair -2025 at the Krishibid Institution, Bangladesh (KIB) at city’s Khamarbari this morning.

The adviser said the national fruit fair will be held in sixty-four district and in upazilas with an objective to make people familiar with local fruits.

Calling upon the countrymen to consume the local fruits, the agriculture adviser said if the people consume the local fruits then the foreign currency will be saved.

Regarding the export of the local fruits, the adviser said, “We are exporting huge local fruits like mango, jackfruits and guava. Even we are exporting mango to China and the farmers will be benefited if the export increases.”
A seminar titled Local Fruits in Health, Nutrition and Commercialization: Current Perspective, Challenges and Prospects was also organized on the occasion of the fair.

He said the country is importing nearly 8.50 lakh tonnes of fruits at a cost of Taka 10,000 crore. Nearly 85 percent of the imported fruits are Apple, Orange, Malta and Grapes, he added.

The adviser hoped that the country is cultivating orange and malta which is expected to gradually decline import dependency.

He urged asked all to plant at least a fruity tree in a year and eat at least one local fruit daily.

Agriculture Secretary Dr Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian presided over the seminar.

The adviser inaugurated a three-day National Fruit Fair. The fair is being held at 431 uapzilas of 64 districts including the capital.

The main theme of the fair is “Eat more local fruits, let`s plant fruit trees".

The fair is open for all from 10am to 8pm. The visitors can know different technology on fruit farming and buy different varieties of chemical free fruits from the fair.