Import of garlic seeds

We have recently been experiencing exorbitant increases in the price of imported large-sized garlic. Every year Bangladesh imports huge quantities of garlic mostly from China, spending scarce foreign currency. But production of garlic in the country could be increased many folds without increasing the use of cultivated land.

The local varieties of garlic grown in Bangladesh right now are very small in size – usually ten to twenty grams each, whereas both the size and quality of the imports from China are much better. The Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation could import large-sized garlic seeds and sell them to garlic farmers in Bangladesh. The farmers would be benefited from the high yield, and the government would be relieved from having to higher amount of spend foreign currency.