After a 15-year hiatus, Sylhet is set to resume citrus fruit exports

The UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) discovered the canker virus in these fruits at Heathrow Airport in July 2007, and exports of these fruits to European countries have been halted since then. Since fruit exports to many European nations and the United States were suspended in 2007 due to detecting a viral virus in the produce, orchards in Sylhet have been hard at work. Bangladesh has lost hundreds of crores in the international fruit market due to the stoppage. Jara lemon, elachi lemon, defol (false mangosteen), pomelo, thoikor, satkara, ada jamir, and naga pepper from Sylhet have been shipped to many European countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, according to Sylhet exporters. In the last 15 years, the citrus fruit business has increased significantly. While Bangladesh's exports have been halted, numerous countries, including India and Bhutan, have stepped in to fill the void.

Agriculture Minister Mohammad Abdur Razzaque assured the Sylhet Chamber during a recent visit in February 2022 that exports would begin shortly and that work was already underway in this regard. In a positive turn of events, the Sylhet Citrus Research Center recently declared most citrus fruit plantations virus-free, with exporters eagerly awaiting approval to resume exporting.