Farmers, agricultural extension workers and others concerned are seen hoping for bumper outputs of advanced onion as its harvest is going to start within this month-end in the region, including its vast Barind tract.
In practice, farmers cultivate the cash crop to get lucrative market price because attention and eagerness of the consumers in general is comparatively more to the early and newly arriving crops, particularly the vegetables, than the peak season.
Monirul Islam, 40, a resident of Dhamila village under Godagari Upazila, has cultivated advanced onion on three bigha of land this season and expecting to get yield around 200-250 mounds per bigha on an average.
"I had harvested 160 mounds yield from one bigha of land valued Taka 1.20 lakh last year," said Islam, while talking to BSS on Thursday, adding that the early onion has changed fate of many farmers in the region.
Many of the grassroots growers have become successful in its cultivation during the last couple of decades. Prospect of boosting acreage and production of the crop is very bright in the region, he added.
Shahab Uddin, 30, a promising farmer of Palpur village, is very much hopeful about cherished yield from his one bigha of land this season.
He said farmers are seen passing busy days nursing their crops amid suitable climate conditions everywhere in the region with the hope of expected outputs at present.
Muhammad Bakul, 49, a farmer of Golai village, had cultivated the onion on around one bigha of land and harvested 120 maunds. He sold his produce at Taka 20 to Taka 25 per kilogram last year.
He has cultivated the cash crop on two bigha of land this year and his crop will be harvested within the end of this month or early December.
"I had harvested 125 maunds of summer onion from 18 katha of land and attained a lucrative price last year," said Zakir Hossain, another farmer of the same village, adding he will also cultivate the cooking ingredient this season. Nazrul Islam, a farmer of Panthapara area of Paba Upazila, has cultivated 15 bigha of land and is expecting yield of 120 to 150 maunds from each bigha of land within 95 to 110 days.
He has to spend Taka 20,000 to Taka 30,000 for each bigha of land.
Sub Assistant Agriculture Officer Atanu Sarker that both climate conditions and topography are suitable for its farming and the growers are seen increasing the acreage taking advantage of the situation in the region.
In the recent-past years, some shortages of onion were being experienced in markets during the period from October to December. So, the early onion has a bigger role towards mitigating the crises to some extent, he opined. The onion farming has created a new dimension in crop diversification and boosting the economic condition of the farmers.
Atanu Sarker said the marginalized farmers were given incentives to cultivate onions. Each of the farmers was given one kilogram of seed, 20 kilograms of dominium phosphate and murrete of potus for cultivating onion on one bigha of land.
They were also given Taka 2,000 for growing seedlings each.
Mozder Hossain, Deputy Director of Department of Agricultural Extension, said the advanced onions have been cultivated on around 4,000 bigha land in the district this season.
2,000 farmers were given seeds free of cost with imparting technical training aimed at making them competent for boosting the yield.
On an average, around 200 maunds of onion are harvested from each bigha of land, he added.
More than 1,500 volunteers are motivating farmers to cultivate less water consuming crops through water resource management on behalf of the 'Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)' Project.
