Chattogram hill tracts affairs adviser Supradip Chakma on Wednesday said that a hub of hill fruits would be set up in the capital to make the fruits available for city people.
鈥榃e want to make a fruit hub in the capital so that people of the capital get the taste of the hill fruits directly鈥�, he said while inaugurating a five-day hilly fruit fair at Chittagong Hill Tracts complex, Baily Road in the city.
The adviser said, 鈥楬illy fruits are not only delicious, but also are symbol of our future organic food.鈥櫬�
He said that this year鈥檚 Hill Fruit Festival was not only a display but also a combination of smell of the soil of hill, labour of women and natural richness of the hill areas.
Supradip Chakma said that the fair had been organised this year with treasures of organic fruits so as the city people remained healthy amid their mechanised life.
The fair has been organised with the support of the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs and three Hill District Councils of Chittagong Hill Tracts.
The adviser said that hilly women were playing significant role in cultivating organic fruits in the CHT. The ministry is providing various incentives and assistance in this purpose, he said.
Secretary of the Chittagong hill tracts affairs ministry M Abdul Khaleq chaired the function while senior secretary M A Akmal Hossain, task force chairman Sudatta Chakma, Rangamati Hill District Council chairman Kajol Talukder, Bandarban Hill District Council chairman Thanjama Lusai and Khagrachari Hill District Council chairman Jiruna Tripura joined the fair, among others.
The adviser said that fruits were preserved with chemicals across the country while in the hills fruits were conserved naturally. That鈥檚 why hilly fruits are not only healthy for the human but also environmental friendly, he added.
This year鈥檚 festival features a bounty of organically grown fruits cultivated by hill women, including pesticide-free varieties such as a hefty 2.5-kilogram 鈥楤runei King鈥� mango, Chiang Mai mangoes, rambutan, passion fruit, exotic papayas, authentic hill pineapples, jackfruit, mangoes and bananas.
A total of 30 stalls, including those from the three hill districts and Dhaka, are participating in the festival which will remain open from 9:00am to 8:00pm every day from July 2 to 5.
