Consumption of oil, fat per capita increased to 18.7 kg in Bangladesh

The country’s oil and fat consumption has increased to 18.7 kilogrammes (kg) which was 13.8 kg five years back. The disclosure was made on Wednesday at a national level virtual workshop, organised by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), to introduce its five-year ‘oilseed production enhancement project’ worth Tk 2.78 billion. National oil and fat consumption was 2.22 million tonnes in 2015 which increased to 3.08 million tonnes in 2019. Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque spoke as the chief guest while DAE Director General Md Asadullah chaired. Md Jasim Uddin, director of the project, presented a paper which said the country imported above 4.7 million tonnes of ‘oil crops’ worth Tk 248 billion in FY’19 to meet the domestic demand. Of the consumed cook-oil, 90 per cent was imported, it said. The paper said per capita oil and fat consumption increased to 18.7 kg in 2019 which was 13.8 kg in 2015. It said the project has targeted to raise cultivation area of oil crops ...