Pre-season variety of onion has hit the market, helping price of the spice item to decrease, traders said.
Newly harvested local onion is now selling at Tk30-32 per kg in the city kitchen markets, thanks to higher production in the growing hubs.
The traders said the latest arrival also helped cut prices of local (older) and imported varieties.
"Local variety of onion (of last season) is being sold at Tk38-42 per kg and imported Indian and Burmese varieties at Tk28-35 per kg-a Tk2-4 decline in the last two weeks," Md Niamat Ali, a retailer at Banalata Kitchen Market under Newmarket, area said.
He said the price of newly arrived onion is now Tk125-130 per palla (5 kg) for the last three days at Karwan Bazar wholesale.
Md Shafique, a grocer at Nowabganjbazar in older part of the city, said prices of local variety (older) also decreased to Tk165-170 per palla at the Shyambazar wholesale market, which was Tk185-190 a few days back.
He said price of imported onion also went down by Tk15-20 per palla in a week as most of the customers prefer local variety than imported ones.
Shamsul Alam, a wholesaler at Karwan Bazar, said that supply of the produce from Pabna, Bogra, Faridpur, Rajbari increased for the last few days.
Cost for bringing per truck (12 tonnes or 12000 kgs) of onion is now Tk264000-270000 excluding transportation which was Tk320000-340000 few days back, he said.
However, according to the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM), the price of onion hit all time high in the second week of December, 2013.
Price of local variety of onion, preferred most by consumers, jumped to Tk 150 per kg in the city markets during the time, hitting an all-time record high, showed DAM data.
At the same time, price of imported onion also rose to Tk 120 per kg at retail level, which was also a record.
A DAM official said the condition is totally different this year.
"The production was more than 1.65 million tonnes in last year and a good stock is still remained at the traders' storage," he said, adding that import cost is also very low compared to that of last year.
"So, there is no possibility of supply shortage for the next seven months if production scenario remains normal," he said.
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) however is expecting to get 1.9 million tonnes of onion this year from 0.185 million hectares of land.
Deputy director at DAE Md Rafiqul Hasan told the FE that many farmers in Pabna, Natore, Naogaon, Bogra, Rajshahi, Kustia, Rajbari, Faridpur and Manikganj districts have cultivated onion earlier to make good profits.
He said the department is expecting a record harvest this financial year.
Tapu Raihan, a director of campaign group Prakritik Krishi, said that the newly harvested onion which, are now available in the market is called "Mulkati".
"Farmers grow this onion to sell both onion and onion plant. Green plant of onion is a delicious food item," he said.
Mr Tapu, who is also a farmer at Kaliganj, Jenaidaha, said the declining price trend is good news for consumers but the government should take action so that it doesn't hit the farmers.
He said import of onion should be restricted for the next five months to safeguard the peasantry.
"The seasonal onion will be harvested from next month when the supply increases several times. The price may decline if import is not restricted," he said.
According to the Directorate General of Food (DGoF), the annual consumption of onion has increased to 2.0 million tones, of which the country produces nearly 1.65 million tonnes.
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