Despite a bumper yield of murikata (bulb-planted) onions, onion farmers in Manikganj district are spending their days in despair. With prices below expectations this year, farmers are counting losses.

Because onion prices were good in the past few years, farmers in the district borrowed money to grow murikata onions this year in the hope of profit. Production was good, but low market prices mean they are making losses, and they now worry about repaying their loans.

Farmers say growing onions cost them about Tk 1 lakh 20 thousand a bigha this year. They had to buy seed bulbs (guti) for planting at Tk 20-25 thousand a maund, and now the onions they produced are selling for only Tk 1,100-1,200 a maund. It has become hard to recover even half of the production cost.

At the district's onion markets in Jhitka and Bathoimuri, farmers were selling murikata onions wholesale at Tk 1,100-1,250 a maund, when only a week earlier the price was Tk 1,600-1,700.

According to the district Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), the onion target for Manikganj this season was 7,035 hectares. Exceeding it, onions were grown on 7,564 hectares: 4,149 hectares of hali (seedling) onion and 3,415 hectares of murikata onion. Harirampur, Shibalaya and Ghior upazilas grow the most onions in the district.

Turab Ali, a farmer from Bathoimuri village, told Jagonews: "Last year I grew murikata onions on 40 decimals and, after covering production costs, made a profit of about one and a half lakh taka. This year, hoping for more profit, I grew them on 80 decimals, which cost about Tk 3 lakh. Half the field has been lifted. I can't tell whether I'll get even Tk 1 lakh from selling the rest. I've lost a lot on onions this year."

Ratan, a farmer from Ubhajani village, told Jagonews: "Because onion prices were good last year, I borrowed money and grew onions on 4 bighas this year. The way prices are falling, I don't think I'll get even Tk 2 lakh. Now I'm worried about how to repay the loan. The blow I've taken on onions this year will take five years to recover from."

Azmat Ullah, a farmer from Balla village who came to sell onions, told Jagonews: "Murikata onion prices were good last year, so I planted them this time in that hope. Bringing onions to the market has left me disappointed. Traders have formed a syndicate and pushed prices down. They buy these onions, take them to Dhaka and make a profit selling at higher prices. The situation for farmers like us is terrible."

Onion trader Sharif Sarkar told Jagonews: "Murikata onion prices have fallen sharply in the past few days. Onions I was buying for Tk 1,700-1,800 a maund a little while ago have come down to Tk 1,100-1,200 a maund because supply in the market has risen."

Dr Rabiah Nur Ahmed, deputy director of the district DAE, told Jagonews: "Farmers in the district grew onions on more land than the target this year. But because murikata onions have a high water content, they cannot be stored. So all the onions have come to market at once, and farmers are getting low prices."

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