Gazipur Jackfruit Prices Soar 100x Post-Season: Tk 10 Fruits Now Tk 1,000

🌾 A visit to markets in Kapasia, Jainabazar and Baromi showed that jackfruits, which were available for as little as Tk 10 in village markets from May to the end of July during the season, have become expensive since the season ended. The few jackfruits still hanging on trees are now being sold at much higher prices, with some large fruits priced at Tk 1,000 each — a 100-fold increase that exposes the structural vulnerability of Bangladesh's jackfruit value chain and the absence of processing infrastructure to extend shelf life.

📊 On Thursday morning, Alomgir Hossain, 43, a resident of Banarhaola village in Kapasia upazila and in-charge of the Upazila Land Service Assistance Centre, bought a jackfruit from a village market for Tk 500. "I sold jackfruits from my own orchard for Tk 10 each just a few days ago. But now I had to buy one for Tk 500," he said. "The person I bought it from said he had to purchase these jackfruits at a higher price. Jackfruits available at the end of the season also taste better, so people are willing to pay more for them."

📍 Gazipur: The Jackfruit Capital

Jackfruits are still being sold in markets in different villages of Kapasia and Sreepur, two areas in Gazipur, known as the "capital of jackfruit". On Wednesday, the weekly market day, Main Uddin came to Baromi Bazar with five jackfruits to sell. He said he was selling them for Tk 400 to Tk 1,000 each. He bought the fruits at different prices by travelling from village to village.

The jackfruit season has now ended, and the piles of fruit that once filled the upazila markets are no longer seen. Even Jainabazar, the largest jackfruit market in Sreepur, now has very few jackfruits. According to data from the District Department of Agricultural Extension, jackfruit is cultivated on around 8,502 hectares of land in Gazipur — making it one of the most concentrated jackfruit-producing regions in Bangladesh.

• 🌾 Season price: Tk 10 per fruit (May-July)
• 💰 Post-season price: Tk 400 to Tk 1,000 per fruit
• 📍 Cultivation area in Gazipur: 8,502 hectares
• 📜 Sreepur production target 2026: 60 metric tonnes
• 🏭 Planned processing centre location: Sreepur or Kapasia
• 🌿 Late-season varieties: Better taste, command premium

💰 Why Prices Spike 100x At Season End

Trader Milon Mia said jackfruits are available at low prices during the season, but traders now have to buy them at higher prices. He also said late-season jackfruits taste better, making consumers willing to pay more. Fruit trader Abul Hossain attributed the rise in prices mainly to differences in varieties.

"Not all varieties of jackfruit mature at the same time. Some varieties bear fruit well before the season begins, while others bear fruit towards the end of the season. As supplies are low in the market, the prices of these jackfruits are naturally higher," he said. The structural dynamic — peak-season oversupply driving prices to Tk 10, followed by late-season scarcity pushing prices to Tk 1,000 — exposes the absence of a processing layer that could capture peak-season surplus and convert it into value-added products for year-round sale.

🏭 DAE's Plan For Processing Centre

Meanwhile, the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Gazipur is taking an initiative to establish a processing centre to preserve jackfruits, said its Deputy Director Rafiqul Islam Khan. Speaking to The Daily Star on Thursday morning, he said jackfruits cannot be stored in cold storage but can be preserved through processing.

"We are considering establishing a jackfruit processing centre at a location in Sreepur or Kapasia. We already have some entrepreneurs interested in this," he said. The processing centre would represent a meaningful upgrade to Bangladesh's jackfruit value chain — converting a perishable seasonal fruit into shelf-stable products including jackfruit leather, dried jackfruit chips, jackfruit jam and frozen jackfruit pulp for use in bakery, confectionery and food service applications.

🌿 Variety Strategy For Better Farmer Returns

Farmer Anisuzzaman Sohel told The Daily Star that farmers could make much higher profits by planting jackfruit trees according to their varieties, as there is demand for both early- and late-season jackfruits. Sreepur Upazila Agriculture Officer Sumaiya Sultana Bonna said the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute has already developed some early varieties of jackfruit. Saplings of these varieties are being supplied to some nurseries, and some of them are year-round varieties.

"Farmers can get good prices if they plant saplings according to the varieties," she said. She said the jackfruit production target in Sreepur has been set at 60 metric tonnes this year. The variety strategy — planting a mix of early-season, mid-season and late-season cultivars — would allow farmers to capture both peak-season volume and off-season premium pricing, smoothing income across the year and reducing exposure to peak-season price collapses.

🌏 Strategic Context: Bangladesh's Jackfruit Industry

Jackfruit is Bangladesh's national fruit and a culturally significant food across rural Bangladesh. The fruit is also nutritionally dense — rich in fibre, vitamins and minerals — and has gained international attention as a sustainable plant-based meat substitute, particularly in vegetarian and vegan markets in Europe and North America. Several Bangladesh food processing companies have begun exploring jackfruit-based export products, including canned green jackfruit in brine, frozen jackfruit chunks and vacuum-packed ready-to-cook products.

The 100x price spike at season end exposes the structural fragility of the jackfruit value chain. During peak season, prices collapse to Tk 10 per fruit — often below the cost of harvesting and transport — leaving farmers with no economic incentive to bring fruit to market. Significant quantities of peak-season jackfruit are simply left to rot in orchards, representing both agricultural waste and lost farmer income. At season end, prices spike to Tk 1,000 — well above what most low- and middle-income households can afford — creating a perverse dynamic where the national fruit is abundant during one part of the year and effectively unaffordable during another.

💵 What A Processing Centre Could Unlock

A well-designed processing centre in Sreepur or Kapasia could fundamentally reshape the economics of jackfruit cultivation in Gazipur. By purchasing peak-season surplus at fair prices and converting it into shelf-stable products, the centre would:

• ✅ Eliminate the peak-season price collapse that disincentivises farmers
• ✅ Create year-round supply of processed jackfruit products for domestic and export markets
• ✅ Generate rural employment in food processing, packaging and logistics
• ✅ Build Bangladesh's credentials as a supplier of plant-based food products to global vegetarian and vegan markets
• ✅ Reduce post-harvest losses, improving resource efficiency and farmer income

For Bangladesh's broader agricultural export ambitions, jackfruit processing represents a particularly promising opportunity. The global plant-based food market is projected to exceed $77 billion by 2027, with jackfruit-based products commanding premium prices in EU and North American markets. Bangladesh, with its extensive jackfruit cultivation and low production costs, is structurally well-positioned to capture a meaningful share of this market — provided the processing infrastructure is built to international food safety and quality standards.

🤝 What Comes Next

DAE's processing centre initiative in Gazipur represents a small but strategically significant step toward structurally transforming Bangladesh's jackfruit value chain. The coming months will reveal whether the proposal moves from concept to execution — and whether the entrepreneurs expressing interest convert that interest into investment commitments.

For farmers in Gazipur's jackfruit heartland, the stakes are tangible. A functioning processing centre would mean fair prices for peak-season surplus, year-round income stability and access to a value-added market that rewards quality and consistency. Without it, the cycle of Tk 10 collapse and Tk 1,000 spike will continue — a structural failure that benefits neither producers nor consumers, and that leaves Bangladesh's national fruit significantly underperforming its commercial potential.