Onion and garlic farmers in the district have not only become solvent but have also bought land and constructed buildings with the profit they earned by selling their produce.

Charsondah and Paikpara villages in Shailkupa upazila are known as 'peyajgram' (onion village) for their contribution to onion and garlic production in the area.

Amirul Islam of Charsondah village, called 'peyaj' Amirul, is well-known in Shailkupa and the district.

Amirul said he has been farming onion and garlic since 1985 on ten bighas of land every season. He bought seven bighas under onion and three bighas under garlic farming, adding that he has spent Tk 1,40,000 for production, including seeds, fertilizer, irrigation water, weeding and day labourers, this season.

The farmer is expecting around Tk 3,60,000 from 425 maunds of onion. No other crop like paddy, wheat or jute can bring so much profit in a season, he said.

Amirul said he has constructed a two-storied market at Fazelpur in Shailkupa municipality for Tk 1.50 crore and a house on four bighas of land for Tk 40 lakh, and has also bought 20 bighas of arable land in the village.

Upazila Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officer of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) Korban Ali said DAE has been providing technical and other kinds of assistance to the farmers.

A good number of farmers at Charsondah, Paikpara, Hazramina, Harihara, Dhaura, Hakimpur, Audha, Kamalnagar, Shitali and Dalilpur villages in Shailkupa are engaged in producing huge quantities of onion and garlic, said farmer Kawsar Ali.

District DAE Deputy Director GM Abdur Rauf said farmers of the district are producing onion on a total of 7,625 hectares of land this season, which was 7,800 hectares in the last season.

The upazila-wise break-up is 450 hectares in Jhenidah Sadar, 140 hectares each in Kaliganj and Kotchandpur, 560 hectares in Mohershpur and 290 hectares in Harinakundu upazilas, while the area of onion farming in Shailkupa upazila alone was 6,045 hectares.

The farmers of Shailkupa have been playing a significant role in onion and garlic production in Khulan division, the deputy director said.