KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 -- Hardly any Malaysian cuisine can be cooked without onions, making the tubers one of the most expensive food items the country pays for.

Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) chairman Aminuddin Zulkipli said Malaysians consume close to 750,000 tonnes of onions a year, citing the recent Kajian Kepenggunaan Agro-Makanan Segar study.

To put it visually, that's as heavy as seven fully loaded aircraft carriers!

Last year, Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu told the Dewan Rakyat that Malaysia imported 687,000 metric tonnes of onions in 2022 - including 38,000 tonnes of shallots.

Going by that figure, Mohamad Sabu said the average Malaysian eats about 1.2kg of shallots alone.

"The...