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Sharp fall in onion price discourages growers

Anwar Ali, Rajshahi
Prices of onion have fallen to below Tk 100 per maund (40 kg) in the district against last years' price of around Tk 2,000.
Bumper yield of kondo (tuber) variety of onions coupled with earlier import of Indian onions has led to drastic fall of its prices and this in turn has made onion saplings awfully cheap as frustrated farmers have become reluctant to cultivate the vegetable, said farmers and agriculture officials.
During visit to the highest onion producing Puthia and Durgapur upazilas in the district on Thursday, this correspondent saw many farmers leaving their onion saplings to wither away at lands.
They said they are not harvesting the saplings, fearing that they would not get back even the labour cost for the purpose.
Onion saplings that sold for around Tk 150 per maund last week is now selling for Tk 80 to 90 at different markets including Baneswar.
Only best quality saplings are selling at Tk 300 per maund, growers and market sources said.
Onion sold for around Tk 2000 per maund last year and it encouraged farmers to cultivate the vegetable on
more areas of land this year. But the drastic price fall dashed all their hopes.
Emdadul Haque, an onion farmer was found carrying onion saplings in a rickshaw-van for cultivation on his land at Chitol Pukur village in Puthia.
"I prepared onion saplings on 10 kathas of land and it was sufficient for cultivating at least seven
bighas of land. But I will harvest only the amount needed to cultivate on three bighas this season and leave the rest at the land,” he said.
“How can I let all the saplings rot?” said a frustrated Emdadul.
Emdadul's brother Nazrul Islam said he already spent over Tk 3000 for preparing saplings on five kathas of land. “Now I am
anxious whether I should invest Tk 1000 more on labours to reap the saplings.”
At current market price, he apprehends the price of his five maunds of saplings would not be evenTk750.
Sanwar Hossain at Chalk Dhadash village said he cultivated onion on his own land last year.
"My production cost
per bigha stood around Tk 20,000 and I got a good yield of highest 80 maunds per bigha. Now if I sell my produce at current market price, I would get only Tk 12,000, which is Tk 8000 less than the production cost."
He said the price of saplings reduced after the prices of onion fell following huge production and import of Indian onions.
Abdul Latif was seen cutting phulka (scallions) at his kondo (tuber) variety of onion field at Chalk Dhadash village. “I am cutting these scallions for feeding my cattle and goats as these have no demand now. The scallions sold at Tk 20 perkglastyear,” he said.
Amirul Islam, an agricul-ture officer of the Department of Agriculture Extension in Rajshahi, said the farmers' frustration is reflected in official data on cultivation.
"Although the December-January cultivation period is nearing end, the target of onion cultivation on 14,750 hectares of land is still to be achieved. Onion has been cultivated on only 11,025 hectares of land so far. Some 14,540 hectares of land were brought under onion cultivation last year and the production rate was nine tonnes per hectares," he said.