Visitors flock to Safe Food Fair to buy organic products

Farmers and agri-entrepreneurs from across the country have gathered at the Safe Food Fair organised by the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) in the capital to showcase their organic products.

The two-day fair was inaugurated on Tuesday at the Chander Haat ground in Babar Road, Mohammadpur.

Habibur Rahman, a farmer from Biswambhapur, Sunamganj, was showing a local variety of rice with small size and round shape to the visitors at his stall.

"Locally known as 'Tepi', this variety of rice becomes longer and finer while being cooked. Currently, only a few farmers in the country still produce it," he said.

"Earlier, people mostly used this variety to cook rice. But it is more popular now for cooking payesh (rice pudding) as it has a beautiful smell," he added.

He also has at his stall Birun rice, Kalojira rice, black legumes, elephant apples, tomatoes, etc, produced on his land in an organic way without using any chemicals.

Many organic farmers from across the country are also participating at the fair, showcasing their products in around 20 stalls.

An agri-entrepreneur from Dhaka has come up with honey and green jackfruit pickles. "Our pickles can preserve jackfruit all through the year. Customers are getting interested in this pickle," he said.

An organisation named Prakritik Krishi, which produces organic crops, also has a stall at the fair.

Participants at the fair say that they are getting good responses from visitors as demand for organic foods has increased in the country in recent years.

Customers are more conscious now about the safety of the products that they consume, they said.

However, visitors say many crops and vegetables that arrived at the fair are mostly available in the village areas. They can be rarely found at markets in the capital.

"I saw many unusual products at the fair. I will come the next day to buy some of them," said Afroza, a local resident.

Md Bakhtiar, director of SAARC Agriculture Centre, said during the inauguration ceremony of the fair, "The future of the new generation depends on safe food. The incidence of cancer and heart disease has increased among 40-year-olds because of dietary problems. That is why it is time to emphasise safe food."

Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan, general secretary of CAB, said, "We are campaigning for food safety. It has been necessary to secure the entire chain from food production to the dining table."