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 consumption of onions in Malaysia is growing rapidly especially after the Covid-19 pandemic.
“However, we expect the demand to grow steadily with no drastic spikes,” he told Malay Mail, when interviewed recently.
Malaysia’s onion imports — comprising big onions, garlic and shallots — crossed RM1 billion in 2023 and came close to RM1.5 billion in 2024. — Picture by Firdaus Latif
So, how is our growing appetite for onions weighing on the national coffers?
Malaysia’s onion imports crossed RM1 billion in 2023 and came close to RM1.5 billion last year, according to figures published by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).
The imports comprise large onions, shallots and garlic.
Aminuddin said the cost of onion imports jumped by 67 per cent in the last five years — from RM887.3 million for 479,746 metric tonnes of onions in 2020 to RM1,482.9 million in 2024.
The cost of Fama’s direct purchase of onions has also more than doubled between 2021 and 2024, he said.
Locally-grown shallots harvested from a farm in Sepang in June 2025 on display during a promotional event at the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) headquarters in Selayang. — Picture by Raymond Manuel
Where do our onions come from?
China is the largest supplier of onions to Malaysia, accounting for 46.3 per cent of all onions imported by the country.
India and Pakistan control around one-third of onions imported by Malaysia, contributing 19.2 per cent and 15.4 per cent respectively.
The remaining sources include the Netherlands (five per cent), Myanmar (four per cent), Thailand (between four to five per cent) and several other countries.
Why cultivating shallots locally is crucial
Earlier this year, Mohamad Sabu said Malaysia could offset RM300 million — nearly a third of its overall RM1 billion onion import bill — if the country can produce 30 per cent of shallots locally.
Echoing his optimism, Aminuddin said Fama will play a key role in the commercialisation phase of the shallot cultivation initiative, especially to reduce the production costs of shallots.
“Malaysia did not produce shallots locally in the past because importing was cheaper, but supply chain disruptions after the Covid-19 pandemic has made us rethink our approach.
“From Fama’s perspective, we cannot just rely on conventional agriculture if we want to reduce the production cost of shallots.
“We should also consider alternative methods like organic regenerative agriculture so that we don’t have to depend on pesticides too much.
“The prices of pesticides keep soaring every year, and by reducing the use of pesticides, we can surely bring down the production cost,” he said.
