Farmers in Puthia, Rajshahi, are distraught after not getting a good price for their onion cultivation. The cost of production is not rising. As a result, farmers in that region are losing interest in onion cultivation. The current market price is so low compared to the cost of production that farmers are facing losses of Tk 200 to Tk 500 per maund of onion. Many also believe that the inadequacy of storage facilities compared to the excess supply has further accelerated this price decline.

While the farmers’ production cost is 1,000 to 1,500 taka per maund, they have to sell it in the local market for only 700 to 1,100 taka. That is, at the retail level, they have to sell it for 15 to 20 taka per kg of onion.

It is believed that due to the good prices of onions in the past years, more land has been cultivated and bumper yields have been achieved this time than the target. The collapse was caused by a sudden increase in supply in the market.

In addition, farmers are forced to sell onions at low prices as onions stored in their homes have started rotting, which has made the situation more complicated. However, speaking to farmers, it has been learned that in order to avoid these losses, if the prices of fertilizers and pesticides can be determined by the government and reached the farmer level, the farmers are hoping to reduce their losses a lot or even make a profit. Azizul Islam, an onion farmer in Puthia Upazila, cultivated onions on 4 bighas of land this year. The onions stored in his home have started rotting, so he is forced to sell them.

He said that he has incurred losses this year by cultivating onions. He has faced further losses as the onions have dried up and lost more weight as he has not sold the raw onions and waited for the price to increase. The number of such farmers is not small.

Another farmer of the upazila, Abdus Salam, said, “I cultivated onions on one and a half bighas of land and spent more than 1 lakh taka. Now, the money spent on this will not be recovered. If the price of fertilizers and pesticides is low, people want to grow crops. With the price of fertilizers and pesticides, people don’t want to grow any other crops. Still, I am working hard in the hope of profit.”

Another farmer named Azad Ali said, “I cultivated onions on 1.5 bighas of land, and given the market situation, I feel like I must have lost half of my money.”

Regarding these matters, Upazila Agriculture Officer Smriti Rani said that farmers are currently getting low prices due to high onion production and supply in the market.

Rajshahi’s senior agricultural marketing officer Sanwar Hossain said, “In Rajshahi, Puthia, Durgapur and Taherpur produce very good onions, and the cost of onion production in Puthia is a little higher. We, the Department of Agricultural Marketing, cannot participate in determining prices directly.”

In addition, houses have been provided to farmers for the maintenance of about 100 onions in those three upazilas. We are working for the farmers and hope that the farmers will get a good price in the future.