According to the Prothom Alo report, the prices of onions doubled after the announcement of extension of the restriction on onion export by India. Traders have hiked the price by Tk 50-89 per kg from retail to the wholesale level. Prices reached Tk 200 in some markets in the capital. When India halted onion export in 2019, a big crisis emerged in the local market at the time.
On 7 December, the department of commerce in India said restrictions on the export of onions will remain effective till 31 March. Soon after the declaration, there was no reason that prices of onions in the local market would be doubled. If the import of essentials is stopped, it is supposed to take a few days to have an impact on the local market.
The commerce ministry sources said there is a huge stock of onions in the market. But the reality is our traders get ready to charge high prices from the consumers. If they get any scope, they hike prices abnormally. Several big business groups import onions. If they hike prices through a syndicate, the ministry and the authorities concerned cannot take any steps. The traders have taken the crisis of onions as an advantage ahead of the elections.
In case of bilateral trade, an exporting country cannot halt supply all of a sudden. Time should be given to import from alternative sources. What has the commerce ministry been doing if India conveyed the message? Were the steps taken by them adequate? As India set prices of onions at USD 800 per tonne on 29 October, the government started importing onions from alternate countries.
The onions imported from China, Myanmar and Pakistan are very little in comparison to the demand. Deputy director at plant quarantine station wing of Chattogram port, Mohammad Shah Alam, speaking to Prothom Alo, said 830 tonnes of onions have been imported from China and Pakistan since 26 November.
Has the government nothing to do against the traders who pocketed huge amounts of money from the consumers showing the excuse that India stopped onion export. It cannot be that the traders will cut the pocket of consumers and the government will remain silent. Huge amount of onions is being found in the shop where a banner is hung saying 'no onions' and this proves there is no crisis.
In this case, the retailers and wholesalers manipulate, but the importers are more liable. The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection conducted raids and fined some traders. This will not come to any use if small fish are caught dropping the big fish.
Another report in Prothom Alo draws our attention. Bangladesh is the largest onion import country in the world. The US is the second. In that case stress has to be given on the production instead of import.
The farmers are interested in producing onions. In that case, the government has to increase the amount of incentives. When the prices of onions are skyrocketing, the farmers of Chapainawabganj have good news, that a bumper production of onions has grown there. There is no alternative to increasing production of onions locally.