Farmers eye bumper yield of advanced onion in Rajshahi

Farmers, agricultural extension workers and others concerned are expecting bumper outputs of advanced onion as its harvest is going to start within this month-end in the Rajshahi region, including its vast Barind tract.

In practice, farmers cultivate cash crops to get a lucrative market price because the 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 bighas of land this season and expects to get yield around 200-250 maunds per bigha on average.

“I had harvested 160 maunds yield from one bigha of land valued Tk 1.20 lakh last year,” said Monirul, on Thursday, adding that the early- yeilding onion variety has changed the fate of many farmers in the region. Many of the grassroots growers have become successful in their cultivation during the last couple of decades. The 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 the 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 Tk 20 to Tk 25 per kg last year.

He has cultivated the cash crop on two bighas 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 in the Panthapara area of Paba Upazila, has cultivated 15 bighas of land and is expecting a yield of 120 to 150 maunds from each bigha of land within 95 to 110 days.

He has to spend Tk 20,000 to Tk 30,000 for each bigha of land.

Sub Assistant Agriculture Officer Atanu Sarker said 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 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.