Vanilla may become BD's new cash crop soon

Vanilla could soon become a new cash crop for Bangladesh as six years of research by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) has confirmed its feasibility under local weather conditions.

Vanilla beans are one of the world's most expensive spices, widely used in ice cream, cakes, and bakery products.

Bangladesh currently depends almost entirely on artificial vanilla flavouring, which, experts warn, can carry health risks, particularly for children.

Natural vanilla, by contrast, is healthier, richer in flavour, and in high demand globally.

Yet, it remains underutilised in Bangladesh largely due to its steep international price.

Now a breakthrough has come at BARI's Spices Research Centre in Bogura's Shibganj.

Officials say subject to approval from the Ministry of Agriculture, vanilla plants could begin reaching farmers as early as April 2026.

"We now have one year of successful data, which we will soon submit to our headquarters in Gazipur for government approval," said Md Zulfikar Haider Prodhan, chief scientific officer at the Spices Research Centre.

Once cleared, the centre would start giving cuttings to farmers, he added.

"Bangladesh's vanilla journey started by accident," recalled Abu Hena Faisal Fahim, a scientific officer at the centre.

"During a trip to Indonesia sponsored by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), I brought back a three-foot cutting and planted it, which bloomed successfully by 2022."

He said the success encouraged them to expand trials, which eventually proved that Bangladesh's climate could indeed support vanilla.

Vanilla is somewhat difficult to process. After blooming, a bean takes nearly eight months to ripen.

It then requires hot-water treatment, followed by weeks of natural drying.

Only after reducing its moisture content by about 70 per cent does it turn into the prized, dark-brown vanilla pod, known worldwide as black gold.

The nickname reflects not only its colour but also rarity, painstaking cultivation, and luxury status in global culinary and perfumery markets.

According to Fahim, the vanilla orchid - a variety of Vanilla planifolia - reaches its optimum yield at around five years of age.

Even in its early stage, however, one plant can produce about one kg of beans worth roughly $250 in international markets.

"Vanilla is so costly because the orchid that produces it grows in only a handful of regions worldwide," Fahim said.

Currently, Madagascar is the world's largest vanilla supplier, followed by Indonesia, while Bangladesh could soon join this exclusive group.

Vanilla planifolia, the variety being nursed by the BARI centre, is a good variety.

If commercialised, experts believe it could diversify Bangladesh's agricultural basket, boost rural earnings, and position the country in the global spice trade.

jasimharoon@yahoo.com