Agriculture Secretary Wahida Akhtar has announced that the government may permit imports of onions due to an increase in the vegetable’s prices in the domestic market. While onion imports were temporarily halted to protect local farmers, the agriculture ministry is now considering allowing imports due to the high market prices, despite a sufficient production and stock of 34 lakh tonnes of onions in the country.
The agriculture ministry is closely monitoring the situation and will decide on onion imports if prices continue to rise. Commerce Minister has also stated that the government will remove barriers on onion imports if prices continue to increase. Over the past month, retail prices of locally grown onions have surged by 85% to Tk 60-70 per kilogramme in Dhaka, while prices of imported onions have risen by 59%, according to data compiled by the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.