At the start of Poush, farmers in Magura's four upazilas are busy growing early onion. Ignoring the severe cold, they are in the fields from dawn, planting onion seedlings. In the Kadamtala Uttar Gobinpur field of Nakol village in Sreepur upazila, farmers were seen planting seedlings from the morning, setting them out in neat rows.

Farmer Harez Ali said: "It has been four days since we properly saw the sun. Ordinary farmers don't want to come to work in this severe cold. But because of our families' financial hardship we have to work. Our work is with mud, soil, water and sickles."

Robiul Islam, a farmer from Nakol village, said: "I sowed the onion seed for seedlings a month ago. Within a month of germination the seedlings have to be lifted and planted out in the field. At the start of Poush I am planting early onion seedlings on 20 bighas, and I have hired 8-10 labourers for it."

"Each labourer costs Tk 500-600 a day. The production cost for onions on 20 bighas is Tk 15 lakh. I hope that if the weather stays favourable there will be a bumper onion crop this time. If so, I will earn Tk 30 lakh from it. These onions will start coming in at the beginning of Chaitra," he said.

Ikram Molla, a farmer from Kadamtala Uttar Gobindapur village, said: "With the weather favourable, the onion crop will be good. I am planting onion seedlings in the severe cold, on 15 bighas. I will earn Tk 6-7 lakh from it, and it is costing me Tk 4 lakh. The land has to be prepared before planting, and after planting the field needs regular fertiliser and irrigation."

"When the seedlings grow after a month, the field needs more care. Very dense fog often stunts the seedlings. If the seedlings are badly damaged, you have to seek advice from the agriculture department. This time I have sown seed of two onion varieties. I hope there will be a bumper yield if the weather and conditions stay favourable," he said.

Agriculturist Md Tajul Islam, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Magura, said: "This winter season farmers in villages across Magura's four upazilas are busy with early onion. If the weather and conditions stay favourable, there will be a bumper onion yield. This year onion has been grown on 858 hectares in the district: 140 hectares in Sadar, 450 in Sreepur, 205 in Shalikha and 163 in Mohammadpur. We are encouraging farmers, and we have distributed fertiliser and seed free of charge to marginal farmers." (The upazila figures he gave add up to 958 hectares, not 858.)

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