Although there has been a bumper onion harvest in Rajshahi this season, farmers are facing extreme hardship due to the unprecedented price drop in the market.

At present, onions are being sold at only 800 to 1,000 taka per maund in various markets of the district. Thousands of farmers are facing losses as production costs have not increased. Rotting in storage, weight loss and excess supply in the market have made the situation more critical.

According to the data of the Rajshahi Department of Agricultural Extension, onion has been cultivated on 21,300 hectares of land in the district this season. Of this, early or round onion has been cultivated on 8,344 hectares. The total production target was set at 432,300 tons, of which the target for round onion was 136,800 tons. In favorable weather conditions, Taherpuri and Nashik N-53 varieties of onion have also yielded good yields.

Farmers complain that while onions used to be sold at Tk 2,500 to Tk 3,000 per maund at this time last year, this year the price has come down to Tk 800 to Tk 1,000 depending on the variety. As a result, they are getting a lower price of Tk 1,500 to Tk 2,000 per maund.

A visit to Singabazar, one of the largest onion markets in the district, in Durgapur Sadar on Tuesday showed that farmers are in deep despair due to the drop in prices.

Farmer Azizul Haque, who came to sell onions, said, “I will not cultivate onions again if the price is not normal. The onions have dried up due to long-term storage and have lost weight, and have also rotted a lot. They are not getting good prices in the market. In addition, there is pressure on fertilizer and drug stores to sell them. It has now become difficult to cover production costs.”

Abdul Momin, a farmer who comes to sell onions at the traditional Baneshwar Hat in Puthia, said, “Now, you can buy only 1 kg of hilsa by selling two maunds of onions. You have to sell another maund of onions to buy vegetables for the family. I haven’t seen such market prices in the last 20 years.”

Traders say that the main reason for the price drop is overproduction and simultaneous increase in supply in the market. Onion trader Khairul Islam said, “This time the production has increased a lot. Farmers are bringing onions to the market together due to storage problems. If we cannot sell at a higher price locally, how can we buy at a higher price?”

According to farmers, the cost of cultivating onion per bigha on their own land is 50,000 to 60,000 taka. And on leased land, the cost increases to 70,000 to 80,000 taka. The land rent alone is about 30,000 taka per bigha. In this situation, they fear that many farmers may abandon onion cultivation in the future and turn to alternative crops or professions if they do not get a fair price.

Durgapur Upazila Agriculture Officer Sahara Parveen Laboni said that the price of onions has fallen due to the current high supply in the market. Many farmers are selling quickly due to fear of rotting, resulting in further decline in prices.

Obaidur Rahman Mandal, director of the field service branch of the Rajshahi District Agricultural Extension Department, said, “Onions are eaten all year round. But if everyone wants to sell at the same time, then it is natural for the market price to fall. Therefore, the hope that the production cost will be recovered immediately after harvesting is not always realistic.”