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Pabna onion farmers in fear of loss


Published : 03 Apr 2022 09:20 PM

The season of picking onions is going on. The farmers of Santhia in Pabna have taken most of their onions home. However, due to low current market prices, farmers are suffering from the fear of losses.

According to Pabna's Santhia Upazila Agriculture Office and farmers' sources, the target was 15,500 hectares of land in Santhia Upazila. Onion cultivation and production in this upazila has increased by 750 hectares more than the target this year. Farmers planted onions extensively in the fields of 10 unions of the upazila. 

Farmers have got good production of onion due to favorable weather and proper care. Meanwhile, the farmers are coming to the field with laborers to pick onions from dawn, ignoring the intense heat. Workers and women of the family, along with children, are busy collecting onions from the land. Other members of the family do not sit during the onion season.  The women have been busy cooking food and chopping onions since dawn. Even the youngest child of the family does not seem to be sitting with his father's work. He is also a professional farmer. The women are busy cutting the tip of the onion till late at night. In October, Santhia farmers prepare onion seedbeds. Due to waterlogging in the soil, they use ashes on the soil to make seedbeds. They spend a lot of time planting onions in mid-December.  Raushan Mandal of Satanirchar village in the upazila said that in order to plant onions in one bigha (33 per cent) of land, three thousand onion seeds, two thousand land cultivators, three thousand fertilizers, three thousand pesticides and three thousand seedlings were planted. 

“It costs Tk 5,000 for planting, Tk 1,200 for irrigation, Tk 5,000 for loosening weeds and roots from the land. The owner has to pay Tk 20,000 for the lease of one bigha of land. I have to spend 40/42 thousand taka in a bigha,” he said.

They are suffering from the fear of loss as they do not get the price of onion in comparison. At present, onion is being sold at the price of Tk 700 to 900.  Bablu, Babu of Bishnubaria village of the upazila, said that they have to sell onions much less than the production cost.

Azam Ali, an onion farmer from Gaurigram village, said, "We are financially disadvantaged as the onion market is low this year despite the high cost." 

If the government does not keep the onion market in our favor, the farmers will turn away from this cultivation, he added.

Amjad of Boailmari village said, “I brought 5 tons of onion to the market. After standing for about an hour, I sold it at Tk 750. It costs about Tk 1200 to 1300 to produce one ounce of onion. One has to sell the land to pay off the loan.”

Wealthy farmers of the upazila are storing onions in their houses in the hope of high prices. However, small, medium and poor class farmers have to sell onions at the market for different needs. As a result, they are facing losses due to low prices. 

Santhia Upazila Agriculture Officer Sanjeev Kumar Goswami said that the land has produced good onions this year. The Agriculture Office has advised the farmers as much as possible. The market owners said that the price of onion produced in the market is lower in the markets as onion is imported from outside the country during the season.