It has been reported that a part of the cost of production is not being met by cultivating onions in the current season in Durgapur Upazila of Rajshahi. Despite the bumper yield of onions, farmers are not getting the expected price in the market, and most of the farmers are facing losses as the cost of production has doubled, while the selling price is very low.

There are two methods of cultivating onions, one is the Murikata (cutting) method, and the other is the Aile (cutting) method.

Usually, the largest amount of onion is cultivated in the Hali system. But this year, the disease of agamra has appeared more in the Hali system. Farmers say that they have suffered huge losses by selling the cut onions at a low price. On top of this, the disease of aga mora has appeared in the Hali onion. Many farmers think that this disease has appeared more due to the weather.

Last Sunday, halii, or oilseed onions, were sold at a price of 700 to 800 taka per maund at the Durgapur market, causing farmers to face huge financial losses.

Rafiq Mia, an onion farmer from Choubaria village, said that I had planted onions on fifteen kathas of land and lost 40,000 taka in total. I thought I would recoup the loss by selling fresh onions, but the market for fresh onions is still not enough to cover the cost of fertilizer and seeds.

Farmer Abdul Mannan, who came to sell onions in Durgapur market, said, “This time the yield is good, but when I came to the market, I saw that the price was not there. Selling onions for 700 to 800 taka does not cover the cost of fertilizer, seeds, irrigation and labor. I have cultivated onions on one bigha of land. If the market is in the condition it is, I will lose 70 to 80 thousand taka.”

Traders associated with the market said that if farmers could sell onions at 2000 to 2500 taka per maund in the market, they might be able to raise the cost. On the other hand, the lack of control over onion imports and the weakness of market management are one of the reasons for this. If fair prices are not ensured on time, farmers will become disinterested in onion cultivation in the future. Which will become a big threat to domestic onion production.

In this regard, Durgapur Agriculture Officer Sahana Parveen Laboni said, “Since onion production is very high in this region, the price may be a little lower, but onions are a perishable crop, and if the price was higher, farmers would have benefited.”

Md. Ramzan Ali

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