Dhaka, Jan. 4 -- Every winter, Bangladesh produces a surplus of onions, causing prices to fall sharply to around Tk 60 per kilogramme, forcing farmers to sell below cost while large quantities rot in storage. Months later, shortages reappear, middlemen become active, imports are allowed, and prices surge again, hitting low-income consumers the hardest.

At the heart of this recurring crisis lies a missing piece of infrastructure: commercial-scale food irradiation. Despite years of planning by the Ministry of Agriculture, the government has yet to commission a dedicated irradiation centre capable of preserving perishable crops such as onions and spices.

The delay is costly for farmers, agro-processors, and exporters, and it is also draini...