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RAJSHAHI, Mar 02: Getting a satisfactory price, onion cultivation has increased in Rajshahi region this year.
Sources said, due to exorbitant price of onion during the current season, the farmers of the district earned a substantial profit by selling onion from their storage.
Being encouraged by the high price and the profit, farmers were now producing onion two times a year on the same land.
DAE officials in Rajshahi said there will be no need to import onion this year. Rather the demand of onion during the coming Ramadan and the Eid-ul-Fitr would be met from the onion produced locally.
Sources from Department of Agriculture informed, this year onion has been cultivated on 16,447 hectares of land which is 1,200 hectares more than the cultivation of last year while the target of production of onion has been fixed at 2,10,000 tonnes.
Mohammad Rubel, an onion farmer of Borogachhi village under Paba upazila informed, earlier he used to cultivate onion on his land once a year. But, due to a satisfactory price of onion, he has cultivated onion two times on the same land this season.
He, however, expressed concern at the import of onion from India again and said, if onion is imported from India now, the onion farmers of the district will incur a huge loss.
Terming the import of onion from India again as 'suicidal for farmers,' he urged the government and the concerned authorities to stop immediately the import of onion from India.
Farmers of the onion producing upazilas including Bagmara, Paba, Durgapur and Puthia were seen taking care of their onion fields. Within a couple of weeks, the onion will be ready for harvesting. Farmers also invested a huge amount of money to purchase onion seeds and fertiliser at an exorbitant price.
They expressed the hope that the government will reconsider the decision of importing onion from India at this moment.
Shamsul Haque, deputy director of Rajshahi DAE said the condition of onion field is satisfactory with a smooth growth of the vegetable. The production of onion is also expected to be satisfactory ahead of the Ramadan.
Hali onion is widely cultivated in Faridpur. Farmers are expecting good yields and fair prices of onions. The onion produced in this district satisfies the local demand of different districts of the country.
According to the agriculture department, when the Hali onion will be available in the local market, it is expected that there will be a significant reduction in onion prices.
Farmers demanded agricultural loans and cold storage facility to save onions cultivators.
Meanwhile, our correspondent from Faridpur writes: Faridpur is the second largest producer of onion in the country. The district's Narkanda, Saltha, Bhanga, Madhukhali, Sadar and Boalmari upazilas are well-known for growing quality onion.
Farmers are now busy in the onion field. They are busy preparing the field and plowing from morning till evening.
Farmers in Faridpur district are cultivating high-yielding Super King, Faridpuri, Taherpuri and Suk-Sagar onions this season.
Some onion farmers said, "We are taking care of onions with the hope of a better yield. The cost of producing one maund onion will be Tk 1,000 to Tk 1,200. We can be benefited if the market price will be Tk 2,000 to Tk 2,200."
"When we will start harvesting our produce, the government should not import onion from abroad. We can benefit if onions are not imported", they added.
Faridpur DAE sources said over 3,72,50 hectares of land have been brought under the production of onion in the district this season with the production target of 0.5 million tonnes of onion.
Karthik Chandra Chakraborty, deputy director of Faridpur DAE, said, "We are expecting a good onion yield this season."