Onion import may be allowed soon: agri secretary

The government may allow onion import soon as the prices of the cooking ingredient are increasing in the local market, said Agriculture Secretary Wahida Akhtar.

Considering the interests of the farmers, onion import has been stopped temporarily, she said in a meeting on onion price at the ministry's conference room today.

According to the ministry, 34 lakh tonnes of onion were produced in the country this year and about 18.30 lakh tonnes of the vegetable are now in stock.

She said considering production and stock, there is no reason to increase onion prices in the country at the moment, but the market price is a bit high.

"The agriculture ministry is constantly monitoring the onion market. Onion import will be considered soon if the price is on the upward trend," she added.

On Thursday, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said the government will remove barriers to onion import if prices of the popular bulb continue to rise.

Over the last one month, retail prices of locally grown onions surged 85 per cent to Tk 60-Tk 70 per kilogramme in Dhaka markets from Tk 30-40 a month ago.

Prices of imported onions rose 59 per cent during the same period, showed prices data compiled by the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.