Onion seed growers expect bumper production

Onion seed growers, particularly in the largest-producing district of Faridpur, are expecting bumper production this year as the weather has remained favourable so far.

A total of 1,867 hectares of land across nine upazilas of Faridpur have been brought under onion seed cultivation this year while it was 1,714 hectares in 2022, according to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).

Farmers have cultivated different varieties of onion seed, including the Rajshahi Tahirpur, Superking, Sukhsagar, BARI-4, Nasik King, BARI-1, and BARI-5.

During a visit to some onion seed fields in the Vachanchar and Gobindapur villages under Faridpur sadar upazila, this correspondent found that the farmers are passing busy times while caring for their crops.

Some were seen pollinating their onion seed crops using their hands while others were spraying insecticides on the field.

Ishak Mollah, an onion seed grower in Bhanga upazila, said onion seed is a very profitable crop despite its high production cost.

Although Ishak did not get the expected yield in 2022 due to bad weather, he cultivated onion seed on 15 acres of land this year at a cost of Tk 22.5 lakh.

Last year, he cultivated the crop on 13 acres of land and got 26 maunds (each maund equals roughly 37 kilogrammes) of onion seed.

"I hope to get at least six to eight maunds of onion seed from each acre this year," he said.

Julhas Kha, a seed grower in Krishnapur village under Sadarpur upazila, got just 22 maunds of onion seed from seven acres of land last year due to poor weather conditions.

"Still, I was not able to sell all of the produce as low-quality Indian seeds were available in the market," he said.

But in the hopes of getting better production and prices this year, Julhas cultivated onion seed on 10 acres of land at a cost of Tk 1.5 crore.

Nazir Uddin Mandal, a farmer in Purba Vachanchar village in the same upazila, did not get the expected yield of onion seed last year due to natural calamities.

"But this year I am expecting a bumper yield, so I have cultivated onion seed on 120 decimals of land spending Tk 1.60 lakh," he said.

Nayan Kha, an onion seed grower of Krishnapur village, said onion seed is more profitable than other crops.

He spent Tk 1.5 lakh on cultivation last year and made a profit of Tk 2 lakh. He has cultivated onion seed on two acres of land this year.

Md Harun, a grower in Vayardanga village under Bhanga upazila, expects to get at least 15 maunds of the crop from two acres of land this year as a good number of bees were seen pollinating the fields.

Shahida Begum, an onion seed grower in Gobindapur village of the same upazila, brought 25 acres of land under cultivation spending Tk 37.50 lakh.

"Last year I did not get the expected yield due to drought, attack of swarming caterpillar and low bee pollination," she said.

"But I am expecting a bumper production this year as the condition of my field is better than what it was last year. I hope to get a good profit if the weather remains in our favour."

Md Ziyaul Haque, deputy director of the Faridpur DAE, said the district is the top onion seed producer and the quality of its crop is better than others.

"We are giving all kinds of support to onion seed cultivators. There are a number of educated youths in the district who have already started to cultivate onion seeds."