From JS Bhavan: Over three lakhs metric tonnes of onion has been imported from abroad during the current fiscal year (till December 31) to meet the crisis prevailing in the country. At present, the price of onion has started to decline as new onions and imported onions are coming to the market.
On Tuesday (Jan. 21) Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said this in a written reply to two separate questions during a question-and-answer session tabled in the Jatiyo Sangsad session chaired by Speaker Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury.
The Minister said that onion is an essential consumer commodity in Bangladesh. Annual demand for onion in Bangladesh is around 24 lakhs metric tonnes. Onion production in the last 2018-2019 fiscal year it was produced around 23 lakhs 3 thousand metric tons as gross production. But finally the real production stood at 16 lakh metric tons.
He said that onion is being imported every year from abroad, especially from neighboring India, as the onion produced locally is not sufficient to meet demand. But due to flood and rains in Maharashtra, onion yields have been greatly affected and onion prices have also increased in India's domestic market. As a result, the Government of India had fixed at $ 380 per tonne of onion on September 13.
The Commerce Minister said Bangladesh's onion market has witnessed a gradual upward trend as the government had stopped the export. Since onion produced is not sufficient to meet local demand, domestic demand is met by importing onions from abroad, especially from India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, China, Ukraine and the Netherlands.
He said the government plans to reduce onion imports in the future by increasing onion production in the country. As part of this program, the Commerce Minister has given a semi-official letter to the Agriculture Minister to increase the production of onion, its warehousing and stabilize the market price of onion produced recently.