The government has asked the traders concerned to increase onion import from late September to avoid the repeat of last year's price debacle.
It is keeping a close watch on the key import channels on most-consumed goods to remove any possible problems, officials said.
To this end, commerce ministry sat in a special meeting with representatives of importers and traders of kitchen items at the secretariat on Tuesday.
"The meeting discussed local demand, domestic production and onion import to devise strategies to keep supply and price of the product stable in the local market," a senior official said.
The ministry will further discuss the onion issue in the next meeting of its task-force committee headed by commerce secretary.
"We've given priority to two neighbouring countries, Indian and Myanmar, for importing onion in future, if required," the official mentioned.
Besides, the ministry will ask the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh to take a time-befitting plan in this regard, he added.
Required steps are afoot to speed up the delivery of imported onion from ports, especially from Sona Masjid, Hili and Bhomra, to help stabilise prices.
The prices of the key kitchen commodity remain stable in the market, the official cited.
Last year, the country witnessed an unusual hike in the prices of some essential items, especially onion.
Onion rose in price to nearly Tk 300.
The ministry has thus made an earlier move to tackle supply and price of the item in the local market from next October to March 2021, a meeting source said.
Bangladesh has a demand for 2.2-2.4 million tonnes, according to the ministry. It also imports an estimated 1.1-million tonnes against its deficit.
The deficit is usually met through import from India (around 90 per cent of the total).
Last year, the neighbouring nation restricted onion export on account of production shortfall.
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