Agriculture Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury on Sunday warned that agriculture officers will be sacked if they are found involved in manipulating onion prices.
“Any agriculture officer to be found involved in manipulating the price of onions will be removed from service,” he said after an emergency meeting with all district agriculture officers at the Agriculture Ministry in the Bangladesh Secretariat.
The meeting was convened following a sudden spike in onion prices.
The adviser said the country has a sufficient stock of onions, but manipulation by a section of unscrupulous people has triggered the price spiral. He noted that prices rose by Tk 40–45 per kilogram yesterday but fell today after the government allowed limited onion imports beginning December 7 to stabilize the market.
“We have to find out the ring. It will not take much time if the media helps us identify the culprits,” he said.
Jahangir Alam said the government must balance the interests of both farmers and consumers, adding that onions sold at Tk 70 per kg would serve both sides.
He said the government is also considering subsidies for potato farmers, who suffered due to a significant fall in prices.
The adviser added that there is no fertilizer shortage in the country and said the supply of fertilizer for tobacco farming will be controlled as part of the government’s decision to discourage tobacco cultivation.
He urged the public to remain vigilant against the use of fertilizers in cattle and fish farming, which has posed serious dangers to public health.
