Onion, garlic, lentil imports increase

Rising local demand for essential agricultural commodities has increased import dependency, forcing the country to spend more foreign currency on imports of such products. 

Import of onion, garlic, and lentils has increased manyfold in FY 2022-23 when the country has been suffering from dollar crisis and higher commodity prices.

Higher import dependency increases the price of such essentials in the country when instability erupted in the international market, said agro-economist and researcher Dr Jahangir Alam Khan.

He also said lower domestic production against the rising demand for essential commodities increases more dependency on import.

The import of onion has increased by 79 thousand 58 tonnes in the FY 2022-23 compared to the previous fiscal year. The production of onion has declined by 1.84 lakh tonnes in FY 2022-23 compared to the previous fiscal year.

The country imported a total of 7 lakh 43 thousand 829 tonnes of onion in the FY 2022-23 while the import was 6 lakh 64 thousand 771 tonnes in the FY 2021-22 and 5 lakh 53 thousand 351 tonnes in the FY 2020-21, according to the government data.

The production of onion was 34.57 lakh tonnes in the FY 2022-23, 36.41 lakh tonnes in the FY 2021-22 and 33.62 lakh tonnes in the FY 2020-21, according to the government data.

Import of garlic has increased by 43 thousand 556 tonnes in the FY 2023 compared to the previous fiscal year. Production of garlic also declined by 1.22 lakh tonnes in FY 2022-23 compared to the previous fiscal year.

The import of garlic was 94 thousand 9 tonnes in the FY 2022-23, 50 thousand 453 tonnes in the FY 2021-22 and 66 thousand 578 tonnes in the FY 2020-21.

The production of garlic was 6.48 lakh tonnes in the FY 2022-23, 7.70 lakh tonnes in the FY 2021-22 and 8.19 lakh tonnes in the FY 2020-21.

Tajul Islam Patwary, director general of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), said that these kinds of crops do not grow in all types of lands.

“There are crises of specific types of land in the country to cultivate these crops. We have taken different projects to increase production of the crops and giving incentives to farmers after identifying suitable land for these crops,” he said.   

The DAE has been taking different works to increase the production of those desirable crops in the country, he added.

Import of lentils has increased by 85 thousand 885 tonnes in the FY 2023 compared to the previous fiscal year. Production of lentils also declined by 0.15 lakh tonnes in the FY 2022-23 compared to the previous fiscal year.

Import of lentils was 5lakh 22 thousand 515 tonnes in the FY 2022-23, 4 lakh 36 thousand 630 tonnes in the FY 2021-22 and 3 lakh 18 thousand 586 tonnes in the FY 2020-21.

The production of lentils was 1.85 lakh tonnes in the FY 2022-23, 2 lakh tonnes in the FY 2021-22 and 2.58 lakh tonnes in the FY 2020-21.

Farmers gradually shifted to cultivating vegetables, paddy and other crops, instead of onion, garlic and ginger, amid low profit margins against the production cost, said Suruz Mollah, a farmer from Kushtia.

The onion and ginger plant needs intensive care, a huge amount of fertiliser and insecticide while water-logging may hamper the production.