Pabna farmers eying bumper onion cultivation

Md Kamruzzaman, an onion farmer of Durgapur village in Pabna's Sujanagar upazila, is enjoying a good turn of fortune as he cut production costs by using his own seeds.

Kamruzzaman has already cultivated onion on 11 bighas of land this year with hybrid varieties being grown on two bighas.

He now plans to cultivate the popular kitchen item on another five bighas after harvesting the Kondo variety (Mulkata Piaj) in mid-January.

"I cultivated onions on just 10 bighas of land last year, when each kilogramme of seed cost as much as Tk 8,000, which was 30 per cent more compared to the year before, due to supply shortages in early winter," Kamruzzaman said.

After enduring this bitter experience where production costs shaved his profits to a bare minimum, he decided to produce his own seeds. Now, he is getting bumper yields while saving on production costs too.

Kamruzzaman is not alone though as many other farmers like him in the area have started cultivating onions with their own seeds.

Last year, 6.35 lakh tonnes of onion were cultivated on 44,030 hectares of land and the same amount has been set as this year's target, according to officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).

"We aim to grow onions on 44,030 hectares of land in Pabna using local seeds and expect to get a production of 6.35 lakh tonnes as a result," said Md Idris Ali, deputy assistant agriculture officer of the district's DAE office.

"Onion cultivation has made remarkable progress considering the cross cultivation target," he added.

Onions have already been cultivated on about 31,250 hectares of land in the district as of December 31 and the sowing will continue well into January.

Besides, many farmers will plant other varieties of onion after harvesting the Kondo variety.

Kondo variety onions are grown between October and November.

Last year, 9,305 hectares of land in Pabna were used to grow 111,305 tonnes of the Kondo variety onion.

This year, 8,405 hectares of land in the region have been brought under Kondo variety cultivation with 70 per cent, or 1.10 lakh tonnes, having already been harvested, Ali said.

But despite the bumper production, farmers are disappointed by the poor market price of new onions.

"Last year, I sold each maund (37 kilogrammes) of Kondo onion for Tk 1,700 to Tk 1,800. This year, each maund is being sold for Tk 1,150 to Tk 1,200," said Md Nasir Uddin, a farmer of Chor Gorgori village in Ishwardi upazila.

Md Abdur Rashid, a trader based in the Sujanagar wholesale market, said there is an adequate supply of local onions in the domestic market while huge stocks of imported onions are also available.

"So, onion prices fell this year. But if imports stop, prices will increase," he added.

Farmers claimed that since they cannot stock their Kondo onions at home as they easily rot, they are often compelled to sell them at lower prices.

Md Mizanur Rahman, deputy director of the DAE office in Pabna, said although prices have fallen this year, farmers will still make a profit because of bumper yields and lower production costs.

"After experiencing last year's crisis, most farmers in Pabna prepared onion seeds and pulps themselves to save huge production costs," he said.

Over 53,000 hectares of land in Pabna will be used to cultivate onion this year with an estimated production target of 7.5 lakh tonnes.

"But since production may exceed the target, farmers will be able to make a profit," Rahman added.