Falling prices of onion irk Pabna farmers

Farmers in Pabna have been left disappointed by the current price of onions as they spent excessively to cultivate the bulbs with hopes of making bumper profits this year.

"On Sunday, each maund (37 kg) of onion was sold for around Tk 1,000 in Sujanagar Haat, one of the biggest onion hubs of the district," said Md Kamruzzaman, a farmer of Durgapur village in Sujanagar upazila.

"The price per maund was between Tk 1,200-1,300 a couple of weeks ago."

Farmers endured increased production costs to cultivate more onions after prices of the popular cooking ingredient went through the roof in the last two years following an export ban by India.

Onions were cultivated on around 2.53 lakh hectares of land this year, up 7 per cent year-on-year, data from the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) showed.

However, the increased supply of onions has led to a decline in its prices for the last few weeks.

During the corresponding period last year, each maund was sold for Tk 1,600-1,800, Kamruzzaman said. Production costs have increased 25 to 30 per cent this year but the falling prices have become a headache for the farmers.

Each maund of seed was sold for around Tk 7,000-8,000 this year while labour and irrigation costs were about Tk 20,000-25,000 for cultivating onion on one bigha of land.

Last year though, the total production cost for cultivating onion on one bigha of land was just Tk 15,000-16,000, according to Milon Sardar, another farmer from the same upazila.

"I cultivated three bighas of onion this year. One bigha produced 30 maunds but I got a profit of just Tk 3,000," Sardar said, adding that if the price fall continues, he will not be able to recover the production cost.

Farmers mainly bring their harvest to the haats for sale due to the huge availability of onions in retail markets, Saidur Rahman, an onion trader of Sujanagar, told The Daily Star.

Besides, the availability of imported onions is also causing prices to fall, he added.

This year, onion was cultivated on 53,335 hectares of land in Pabna, where 9,305 hectares were used for Kondo onion cultivation, said Md Abdul Kader, deputy director of the DAE office in Pabna.

"We expect to produce 6.5 lakh tonnes of onion in the region while another 25 lakh tonnes will likely be produced across the country this year."

The district will account for around 25 per cent of the country's total onion production this year.

"We have already harvested 1.2 lakh tonnes of onion by March 15," Kader said, adding that farmers should not worry about prices.

"If farmers can preserve their stocks for a few months then they can get handsome prices as no onion will be imported for now."

Still though, farmers have urged the government to set onion prices for their sake.

"If the market price per maund is Tk 1,400 to 1,500, then farmers and traders would profit while consumers would get onions at reasonable prices." said Md Ainul Islam, another farmer of Sujanagar upazila.