The Head of the Farmers Union in Libya, Ahmed Abu Halala, has warned of the shortage of onions from the market amid limited local production and the cessation of imports from neighboring countries as the onion crisis that the world is going through continues.
Speaking to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Abu Halala said that domestic production began to decrease with the hike of prices, calling for the necessity of state intervention to provide onions, reiterating that there are efforts to import onions from neighboring countries such as Algeria and Tunisia, but they have failed, in addition to other efforts to cover the local need from Turkey, however; he said these countries need the commodity due to the global shortage, thus the shortage of onions from the local market is imminent.
He said that the farmers' reluctance to farm due to the cessation of subsidies amid the rising price of fertilizers and grains caused a decline in production amid the widespread demand for the consumption of onions.
The advisor in the Grain Authority of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ahmed Al-Senussi, said the cessation of subsidies for grain since 2015 has caused many farmers to refrain from planting, and that affected onions, in addition to the cessation of government agricultural projects since 2011 due to the lack of security stability in the country.
Libya's production of onions is estimated at about 235,000 tons annually, according to data from the Agricultural Research Center, while farmers' reluctance is due to the high grain prices, lack of interest in the local product, lack of financial support for agricultural projects, and the imposition of taxes on imported goods.
