Staff Reporter :
Dragon fruit cultivation in the country has increased by 116 times in just 9 years and surprisingly, the production of it grew by almost 400 times during the time.
Area of land dedicated to dragon fruit farming has increased steadily from 38 hectares on 2015-2016 to 1115 hectares in 2021-2022.
Likewise, the annual production has increased significantly from 277 metric tonnes in 2015-2016 to 13,872 metric tonnes in 2021- 2022, according to the Horticulture Wing of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).
In the fiscal year 2022-23, dragon fruits were cultivated on a record 2095 hectares of land and the highest production stood at 25,760 tonnes in the last fiscal year.
In the current financial year 2023-24, the cultivation and production of dragon has grown significantly, according to the DAE.
This significant growth in output illustrates the success and potential of the country’s dragon fruit business, indicating rising demand and good growing circumstances.
The Dragon fruit cultivation started in the country at individual initiative in 2010. Later in 2014, dragon cultivation started commercially under the “Year-Round Fruit Production for Nutrition Improvement” project of the DAE.
Different species of dragon fruit like Hylocereus Undatus (white and yellow-fleshed), Hylocereus Polyrhizus (red fleshed), and Hylocereus Costaricensis (red fleshed) are being cultivated in the country.
Experts are of the opinion that a boom in dragon fruit cultivation will not only financially benefit the farmers, but it also earn foreign currency through exports.
Additionally, the availability of this nutritious fruit contributes to improving the dietary health of the population.
Dragon fruit is enriched with antioxidants.
It also contains a good amount of calcium. Dragon fruit is very beneficial for those who have bone density or bone problems to compensate for calcium deficiency in the body.
Dragon fruit can be given to children to meet their vitamin A and beta carotene needs.
The project Director Dr Md Mehdi Masud told The New Nation, “Dragon fruit is going to be our main fruit.
There is no fruit shop in the remote areas of the country, including the capital that does not have dragon fruit.
It has recently achieved this massive success by setting up demonstrations through the DAE’s year-round fruit production for nutrition improvement project.”
“Dragon fruit is highly nutritious and profitable for the farmers. Fruit production starts in one year after planting. That is why it has become very popular among farmers very quickly,” Dr Masud added.
He further said, “A study on the effect of pesticides on dragons has been done by the Agricultural Research Council. But the study found no effect of any type of pesticide in it.”
“However, there has been no research on the effects of hormones.
I would say that different research institutes should collect samples of it from markets to examine whether there is anything harmful in the fruit,” he added.
Md Obaidullah Kaisar, Principal Scientific Officer (Fruit Department) of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), said, “There was no problem with dragons before.
But, Chemicals (hormones and tonics) are now being used in dragon fruit. That’s why we have initiated an analysis of the chemicals.”
