Major fruit crops production in Bangladesh and their relationships with socio-ecological vulnerabilities

Many nutrient rich fruits are grown in Bangladesh, but consumption is less than half of the daily requirement. Such situations are worst depending on growing seasons, natural hazards and localities of the country. The climate extremes are increasing globally including Bangladesh and damaging crops severely. So, the impacts of climate extremes on fruit crop losses and socio-ecological vulnerability were investigated in the present investigation. The socio-ecological vulnerable zones were determined based on minimum of 10 attributes, arithmetic, geometric and weighted mean scores and maps were prepared using IDRISI3.2. Banana, mango, watermelon, pineapple, and jackfruit covered the highest areas in Bangladesh. Total fruit production varied from 600000 tons depending on location of gardens and its size. North-east, south and south-east coastal regions of Bangladesh are moderate to very highly socio-ecologically vulnerable for fruit production. Most safe zones for fruit cultivation are situated in major hilly, parts of north-west and a few districts in central region in Bangladesh. Fruit crop area damages were the highest in Khulna division. Hailstorms were dominating hazards responsible for 28.83% losses followed by thunderstorms (14.73%), cyclone (14.54%) and salinity (10.86%). Based on economic losses, about 67% areas of the country are moderate to highly vulnerable for fruit cultivation. Major hilly, parts of north-west and part of central regions are safe for fruit production of country. Damages from climate extremes can be minimized by changing sowing times, selection of hazard tolerant varieties, making physical barriers, early warning for disaster preparedness and community based disaster management.