April 23, 2025
DHAKA – Despite it being the peak harvesting season, onions have now joined the ranks of other rising kitchen essentials such as rice, soybean oil and vegetables.
In Dhaka’s kitchen markets, locally grown onions are currently selling for around Tk 70 per kg– up from Tk 55 to Tk 60 just a week ago.
Official data from the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) also shows that retail prices in the capital range from Tk 40 to Tk 65 per kg, a rise of 23.5 percent compared to a month earlier.
Only a week ago, consumers could still buy onions for Tk 40 to Tk 55 per kg, according to TCB data.
Retailers and wholesalers in Dhaka, along with farmers in major onion-growing districts like Pabna and Faridpur, said the bulbs were still being sold directly from the fields up until about three weeks ago. But farmers have since harvested the entire crop and stored the better-quality produce.
Earlier in the season, many farmers rushed their onions to market to recover cultivation costs. This temporarily flooded the supply and pushed prices down.
But now, with the entire crop harvested, they are storing high-quality onions that can last longer, giving them more flexibility in timing their sales.
Md Abdur Rahim, director of the plant quarantine wing at the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), said that the government has suspended onion imports since March to ensure local growers receive fair prices.
Onions are usually planted in December and start arriving in markets around March or April.
Earlier in the year, farmers made headlines lamenting market prices that fell below their production costs.
According to Agriculture Secretary Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian, farmers spent between Tk 35 and Tk 48 to produce each kg of the bulb this season.
The DAE estimates the total output this season to be more than 39 lakh tonnes. While this should be sufficient to meet the country’s demand, the agency projects a need to import another 6-7 lakh tonnes to cover post-harvest losses.
FROM FIELD TO RETAIL, PRICES RISING AT EVERY STAGE
Saiful Islam, a resident of Farmgate area in Dhaka, said onion prices rose abruptly by Tk 10-Tk 15 per kg.
Nurul Alam Shikdar, a retailer at Pallabi area of Mirpur in Dhaka, echoed this, saying local onion prices have jumped to Tk 70 per kg compared to the previous week.
Md Kalam Sheikh, a wholesale trader at Karwan Bazar, said, “We are buying onions at higher prices from farmers or suppliers. That is why prices are high in the kitchen markets of Dhaka.”
Mohammad Abdul Mazed, general secretary of the Shyambazar Onion Wholesalers Association, a major wholesale hub in Dhaka, said supplies have been insufficient despite it being the harvest season.
“Yesterday, local onions were sold at Tk 47 to Tk 50 per kg in wholesale markets, up from Tk 30 to Tk 32 just a week ago,” he added.
He linked the increase to the suspension of onion imports.
MARKET TIGHTENS IN ONION HEARTLANDS
In Pabna, one of the country’s major onion-growing districts, wholesale prices have surged past Tk 2,000 per maund (37.65 kg) in recent days, a sharp rise from Tk 800 to Tk 1,000 a month ago.
Md Robiul Islam, a wholesaler in Pabna, said that up until two weeks ago, many farmers were still selling onions straight from the fields.
“Now, farmers are storing onions that can be preserved for a long period due to their good quality. So, they are choosing to sell based on prevailing market conditions,” he explained.
Montu Khan, a farmer from Sujanagar upazila in Pabna, harvested over 500 maunds of onions but decided not to sell when prices dipped.
“Last month, prices were around Tk 800 to Tk 900 per maund. As it was too low to cover production costs, I have stored the entire stock at home to sell gradually throughout the year,” he said.
Prices are also increasing in Faridpur’s Saltha upazila, with rates rising to Tk 1,700 to Tk 1,800 per maund.
Kamal Hossain, a wholesale trader in Faridpur sadar, said many farmers are holding on to their produce instead of selling according to market demand. This has led to shortages even in peak season.
He added that some traders are also stockpiling onions, expecting prices to rise further.
Shahadat Hossain, senior agricultural marketing officer in Faridpur, said, “Many farmers are preserving their onions, which has reduced the market supply.
“Besides, traders are buying and storing onions, expecting higher future prices. These factors together have led to the recent price hike,” added Hossain.
Agriculture Secretary Emdad Ullah Mian said that to ensure a fair profit for farmers, the ideal retail price should be around Tk 60 per kg, factoring in a 15 to 20 percent margin over production costs.
“When onions were selling below Tk 60 in retail, farmers were largely incurring losses,” Mian told The Daily Star.