Giant Agro Ltd opens country's only onion cold storage in Mymensingh
Stakeholders say onions can be stored for up to 7-8 months in the cold storage
To address the issue of onion shortage despite surplus production, which is attributed to high post-harvest losses ranging from 20% to 40%, Giant Agro Processing Ltd has set up an onion cold storage facility in Bhaluka, Mymensingh, with a capacity of 400 tonnes.
Agriculture Minister Md Abdus Shahid inaugurated the cold storage on Thursday (2 May), making it the country's only facility dedicated solely to preserving onions.
Stakeholders say onions can be stored for up to 7-8 months in the cold storage established as part of an initiative of the Onion Impact Cluster, a project in Bangladesh aimed at improving the onion supply chain funded by the Dutch government.
For the private sector to invest in onion cold storage on a large scale, government support is needed.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
At the storage facility, onions will be sorted by size through using automated machines and packed into wooden crates before being stored. The temperature, humidity and other factors will be controlled by using technology provided by the Netherlands government, they say.
"Currently, our annual onion production is around 35 lakh tonnes while demand is around 28-30 lakh tonnes. However, Bangladesh has been suffering from a long-standing shortage of onions and price fluctuations," said the Agriculture Minister at the inaugural programme.
"Despite being a surplus producer of onions, our inability to ensure year-round availability due to inadequate storage facilities has made us dependent on imports. This has increased the volatility of our onion market and created a lot of political pressure.
"This cold storage is a collaborative effort of a consortium of Dutch and Bangladeshi companies through the Dutch government and the Onion Impact Cluster initiative, marking a new chapter in the journey of our onion industry," he added.
The minister noted that the goal of the partnership was to harness the expertise, technology, and innovative solutions of the Dutch to increase onion productivity and storage facilities in Bangladesh.
Firoz M Hasan, managing director of Giant Agro Processing Ltd, said, "For the private sector to invest in onion cold storage on a large scale, government support is needed.
"For example, many companies in the Netherlands want to provide machinery and technology, and take the money in instalments. The government needs to facilitate this policy so that investment becomes easier," he added.
Irma Van Dueren, ambassador of the Netherlands to Bangladesh, said, "Today we celebrate onion storage. There are more opportunities for collaboration. The initiative of the onion storage project collaboration will continue all the time."
According to the Bangladesh Cold Storage Association, there are more than 400 cold storages in the country, which are mainly used for potato storage.
In 2004, Fazlur Rahman, an entrepreneur in Rajshahi, had set up an onion cold storage. The 3,000-tonne capacity storage was built at a cost of around Tk15 crore. However, it was eventually closed down due to consecutive annual losses.
Since 2020, the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has been attempting to establish an onion cold storage, but the project has yet to materialise.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the country produces 35 lakh tonnes of onions annually, which is more than the demand. However, due to 20%-40% post-harvest losses, the supply of usable onions comes down to 25 lakh tonnes.
As a result, at least another 5-7 lakh tonnes of onions are imported every year to meet demand.
Most of the imports come from India.
As a result, when India halts onion exports, Bangladesh feels a significant impact. There have been instances of onion prices exceeding Tk300 per kg in the domestic market due to India's export restrictions.
