Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque on Sunday said by distributing the BARI-4 onions which is a high yield variety that doesn’t concede on taste across the country, Bangladesh can start exporting onion in two or three years.
The minister made the remarks while visiting the cultivation and possibility of this variety at Char Mansha village in Bhola sadar upazila.
“We need to import 8 to 10 lakh tons of onions from abroad every year. India puts a bar on exporting onions to us which increases the price in the local market. By distributing the BARI-4 variety not only we will become self-sufficient in onion production and also will be able to export it,” said the minister.
Also read: Kushtia onion farmers struggle with production cost amid falling price
The minister said, earlier the workers could buy 2-3 KG of rice with a day’s earnings but now they can buy 10 kg of rice.
“Due to Covid-19 and Russia, Ukraine war the prices of food products saw a record hike across the globe. We acknowledge that people are struggling as prices of some essential commodities have also increased in the country affected by the global situation. But there is no food crisis in the country and people are not starving,” said Abdur Razzaque.
But some economists, civil society and BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir are playing broken records all day long that the country is drowning, people are dying of hunger as if there is a famine going on, said the minister.
Also read:Jashore may wipe away Bangladesh’s onion tears this year
The minister said the soil in Bhola is fertile and scientists here have invented new varieties of several crops including paddy, onion, potato, eggplant, mango, and litchi.
“The farmers will benefit if these crops can be grown successfully as the yield of these varieties is high. Revolutionary change will come in agriculture as agricultural production in the country will increase, as well as will not need to import from abroad”, he added.
Source: United News of Bangladesh