TDS Desk:

Agriculture Minister Mohammad Aminur Rashid has said the government is planning to install 8,000 air flow machines in major onion- and garlic-producing areas across the country to reduce post-harvest losses.

The minister shared the information during a question-and-answer session in the Jatiya Sangsad today (15 April).

In a written query, Rajbari-2 lawmaker Md Harun-or-Rashid, noted that his constituency-Pangsha, Baliakandi, and Kalukhali upazilas produces 20-25% of the country’s total onion supply. Around 5,68,755 metric tonnes of onions are produced on 34,470 hectares of land in these three upazilas.

He noted that around 20-30% of the produce is lost due to inadequate preservation and asked whether the government has any plan to increase the number of air flow machines, which could reduce losses by 15-25%.

In response, the agriculture minister said that 505 air flow machines in Pangsha, 260 in Kalukhali, and 495 in Baliakandi have already been installed under incentive programmes to support onion preservation at the farmer level.

He further said that the Department of Agricultural Marketing has formulated a project titled “Modernisation of onion and garlic preservation using air flow system and development of marketing activities,” which is currently under review at the agriculture ministry.

Under the project, there is a plan to install 8,000 air flow machines in high-yielding areas, including Rajbari. Subject to approval, there is a plan to install 800-1,000 air flow machines in Pangsha, Baliakandi, and Kalukhali upazilas.