Mung bean exports take a hit

Mung bean exports from Bangladesh have decreased as foreign buyers are less interested in purchasing the legume this year given their reduced quality and size resulting from severe droughts during the growing period.

About 700 tonnes of mung beans, locally known as mugh daal, were exported to Japan in 2022 but only 200 tonnes are to be shipped this year.

Grameen euglena, a joint venture between Japan's euglena Co Ltd and Grameen Krishi Foundation, has been exporting mung beans produced in Patuakhali since 2018.

This year, the company purchased 336 tonnes of the legume at Tk 67 per kilogramme from about 8,000 contract farmers in the region.

And despite having aimed to export 1,000 tonnes of mung beans to Japan, just 200 tonnes of the pulses will be shipped to the island nation this time around.

Najmus Sadat Nahid, country coordinator of Grameen euglena, said the mung beans are packaged at their own factory in Ishwardi upazila before being sent to Japan from July onwards.

But due to the severe heat this year, the pulses are of smaller size. As a result, the desired quantity of quality mung beans could not be collected, leading to a fall in exports, he added.

Nahid also said they purchased the Bari-6 variety of mung bean grown on about 2,000 hectares of land for Tk 67 per kilogramme, which is Tk 5 more that the going market rate.

Abdur Rahman, a mung bean farmer of Badarpur village in Patuakhali sadar upazila, said he cultivates the crop under the supervision of Grameen euglena but lower production was unavoidable this year due to unfavourable weather.

"Still, we are happy to be getting a good price from the company," he added.

Regarding exports to Japan, Sultan Ahmed, chairman of the department of agriculture at the Patuakhali University of Science and Technology, said there is huge demand for the legume in Japan.

There, mung bean sprouts as well as pulses are used as a tasty vegetable or ingredient that prevents disease, he added.

Nazrul Islam, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Patuakhali, said some 85,432 hectares of land in the district were brought under mung bean cultivation this season with about 102 lakh tonnes of the pulses having been produced.

This year, 20,000 farmers in Patuakhali were given mung bean seeds and fertiliser as assistance under the Agriculture Rehabilitation Project of the agriculture ministry.

"Farmers are benefiting more with less cost and it is possible to earn foreign currency by exporting mung beans," he added.