The government is now looking forward to be self-sufficient in onion production. A three-year roadmap is being formed to make the country dependable with its own production to meet onion demand by 2023.
The roadmap scheduled from 2021 to 2023 will be implemented by agriculture ministry and a good number of organisations. A meeting was held in this regard at the agriculture ministry conference room recently.
During the meeting, it was finalized how the roadmap will be achieved. Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI), Bangladesh Atomic Research Institute, Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC), and Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) will work jointly.
The meeting put emphasis on upcoming summer onion harvesting to meet the shortage of demand. According to the roadmap, about three lakh hectares of land is required for onion cultivation. In that case, new hope has awakened in the summer onion. The summer onion has now become the game-changer for the country’s self-sufficiency in onion production.
During the meeting, Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzak has announced all kinds of cooperation to the farmers including improving onion seeds, materials, and technology.
As per the roadmap, 10 major onion production districts will be bought under the plan. Besides other crops, good qualities of onion will be cultivated. Based on the result, other districts will be bought under the roadmap to meet the demand.
The country's onion seed requirement per annum is approximately 1,100 lakh tonnes. The government provides around five to six lakh tonnes of seed while 50,000 to 60,000 tonnes are produced by the private sector organisations. The rest of the seeds are produced by farmers. But, the quality is not up to the mark.
However, the roadmap also includes the issue to increase seed production in the country. In the new plan, the quantity and production potential of onion seeds has been taken as 942 lakh tonnes in the current 2020-21 season, 1,030 lakh tonnes in the 2021-22 season and 1,088 lakh tonnes in the 2022-23 season.
According to the DAE, the annual demand of onions is around 3 million tonnes. In 2020, onion production in Bangladesh was 25 lakh 56 thousand tonnes. However, an average of 25 to 30 percent of total production is damaged every year. As a result, the total production of onion in the country stands at 15 to 19 lakh tonnes. So, about 11 lakh tonnes of onion are imported to meet the rest of the country's demand.
Agriculture ministry secretary Mesbahul Islam said, “In the next three years, onion production in the country will be increased to 10 lakh tonnes. Summer onion production should be increased to achieve the target. The agriculture ministry has taken a specific action plan to achieve this goal”.
According to the agriculture ministry, the main reason for the decline in onion production is low yields. There is a scarcity of land and quality seeds for production. Besides, the onion can not be stored properly due to the bad weather. The necessary labour crisis is also a big obstacle. Due to these reasons, the country has been facing many ups and downs for becoming self-sufficient in onions.
