‘Govt may allow onion import if price hike continues’

Staff Reporter :
Minister of Agriculture Secretary Wahida Akter has said the government may allow the import of the onion if the price hiking continues.
She said considering the production and stock, there are no shortage of the onion in the country and no reason to hike the price. But in the market the traders are charging high price for onion.

The Ministry of Agriculture is monitoring the market. If the price hiking continues then the ministry will consider the import of the onion, she added.

She made the remarks at a meeting held in the conference room of the Ministry of Agriculture at the Secretariat on Sunday afternoon.
“The import of onion has been suspended considering the interest of farmers. This year onion production in the country has been more than 34 lakh tonnes. Additionally, there are 18.30 lakh tonnes of onions in stock. Although there is no reason behind increase in onion price this time, we are seeing a hike in onion prices in the market,” she said. In the meeting, the Department of Agricultural Extension presented statistics on the production, demand and import of onion.

According to the DAE statistics, onion production in the country has increased by more than one million tonnes in the last two years.
This year alone, more than 34 lakh tonnes of onion has been produced in the country.

But due to lack of proper storage or adverse environment, 30-35% of onions are wasted. The demand for onion in the country is 26 to 28 lakh tonnes per year, according to information provided by the DAE.

At present, the production cost of one kg of local onion is Tk 28-30. In 2021-22, the market price of local onion was low (Tk 30-35) due to open imports.

As the farmers did not get a fair price the Ministry of Agriculture temporarily suspended the import of onion this year to encourage the farmers in onion cultivation, according to the DAE.

Agriculture Ministry Additional Secretary Rabindra Shree Barua, Director General of The Department of Agricultural Extension Badal Chandra Biswas, Director General of the Department of Agricultural Marketing Md Masud Karim and Deputy Secretary of the Extension Wing of the Ministry Munsur Alam Khan were present at the meeting.