The importers of Dinajpur’s Hili land port are in trouble for not being able to sell onions imported from India due to the shortage of buyers. Most of the onions already in the warehouses have rotted due to excessive heat. In this situation, traders are selling these onions at the rate of Tk10 per kg.
Importers said Indore and Nashik varieties of onions from India continue to be imported through Hili land port. At the port, good quality Indore onion is being sold at Tk50 and Nasik variety at Tk55 per kg. However, good quality onions are being sold at Tk45 and low-quality onions at Tk10-20 per kg in the warehouses of various importers in the port.
Sabuj Hossain, who came to buy onions at the warehouse, said: “I came to Hili from Birampur to buy onions. I am buying those spoiled onions rotting in the warehouse at the rate of Tk10-20 per kg. But the price of good quality is Tk45 per kg. These onions have been spoiled because they were stored in the hope of higher prices.”
Another buyer, Sirajul Islam, said: “Onions are rotting in warehouses due to excessive heat. I bought some low-quality onions for Tk30 per kg. I will take them home and sell them.”
Yasin Ali, another buyer, said that most of the imported onions are rotting. He said: “In the meantime, I will purchase the onions and sell those after seeing the good and the bad.”
Waheda Begum, who is engaged in picking onions in the warehouse, said: “We pick rotten onions in the warehouses of various importers of the port. I get Tk20 per bag. The rotten ones are kept in one place, and the good ones are kept in warehouses. My family runs from what I get from doing this work all day.”
Siddique Hossain, warehouse manager of the port, said: “When onions were loaded on the truck in India, it was raining. As a result, the quality of imported onions is poor. The onion then rotted in the heat. Now it is sorted and kept separately in the warehouse by workers. Rotten ones are selling at Tk10 and some at Tk15 while others at Tk20 per kg. Businessmen are making loss in this.”
Abdus Salam, an onion importer at the port, said: “The supply in India has decreased slightly due to disruption of onion production caused by floods. In this, the Indian government imposed 40% duty on exports on August 19 to keep the supply normal and prices under control. In this situation, the importers have continued to import with 40% duty. But we are in trouble with these imported onions.”
“The reason for this is that it gets destroyed by excessive heat. Along with this, there is a buyer crisis due to the increase in prices. Out of 36 tons of onions in an imported truck, 20 tons are good quality. Everything else is rotten. Compulsively selling those at Tk10-20 per kg. However, I am selling the good quality onions at Tk45,” he added.
