About 50 farmers in Birganj, Dinajpur, have drawn wide attention by producing onion seed, and each of them has become a lakhpati from it. Despite their success, every year they fall into the hands of a syndicate when they sell the seed, and are forced to sell it cheaply.

Onion seed is being grown on 8 hectares in Birganj alone. Yet the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) office in Dinajpur has no figures for how many hectares of onion seed are grown in the district.

The white onion flower heads dry to give black seed, which sells at sky-high prices, so the seed is called "black gold". Its cultivation is growing year by year in Boirbari Pathanpara village of Palashbari union in Birganj upazila. About 50 farmers in the village and nearby areas grow onion seed.

In the onion seed fields of Shahidul Islam and his brother Nurul Islam in Boirbari Pathanpara, 25 to 30 men and women were busy pollinating the flowers by hand, stroking them one by one.

The elder brother, Shahidul Islam, said he has grown onion seed for 15 years. Because it pays, he adds a little land every year, and this season he has 3 acres under onion seed. Besides him, about 50 farmers such as Emdadul, Baten and Masum grow onion seed.

"Every year I buy 80 maunds of seed onion bulbs from Faridpur at Tk 175 a kg and plant them on 3 acres in the last week of November," he said. "The crop has been tended since then. If there is no natural disaster, the seed will be harvested in the first week of April. Costs up to then will be about Tk 11 lakh."

Shahidul Islam said each acre would produce 469 kg of seed, which at Tk 2,000 a kg would sell for Tk 9 lakh 34 thousand. On that basis, he said, 3 acres would yield about 1,407 kg of seed, worth Tk 28 lakh 14 thousand, leaving a profit of about Tk 17 lakh 41 thousand after costs.

"If the government's BADC bought the seed, we would get a fair price and make more profit, and Dinajpur's farmers would produce even more seed," he said.

His brother Nurul Islam said: "Every year we fall into the hands of a syndicate. Wholesalers from Faridpur, Rajshahi, Kurigram and Sirajganj come and sit in a hotel to fix the price, and we are forced to sell our seed to them. They buy seed from us and sell it to BADC in Faridpur. They take our seed cheaply, but charge us more when they supply bulbs. We lose out. The agriculture department does not look into it. If BADC in Dinajpur bought directly from us, we could earn more."

Woman labourer Sumitra Roy said they have worked in the onion seed fields since November and get work every day for four to five months, so they want onion seed production to grow.

Momota Rani said: "It is the off season now. Because onions are grown here, I can work every day, which is a big help to us. About 1,000 women work for roughly four months in the fields of the 50 onion seed growers in this area. Thanks to onion seed there are hardly any women without work here."

According to the upazila DAE, the onion target for Birganj this season was 150 hectares and 151 hectares were achieved. Onion seed was grown on more than 8 hectares.

Birganj upazila agriculture officer Krishibid Md Shariful Islam said: "The onion seed produced in Palashbari, Shibrampur and Paltapur unions of Birganj is among the best in quality. Farmers have opened a new horizon in onion seed production in Birganj upazila."

Asked about the district target, additional deputy director (crops) and information officer Md Anichhuzzaman said: "There is no target for onion seed production in the district. Not much onion seed is produced in this district, but we have heard about Birganj. We will look into it and supervise, and take steps to solve the farmers' problems."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.