Onion seedling planting is in full swing across the wide beel region of Sujanagar upazila, Pabna. Farmers in the country's largest onion-growing area counted losses last season but hope to recover this time, and some have begun integrated farming.

One-third of Bangladesh's onions are grown in Pabna district, and the largest growing area is this beel region of Boalia in Sujanagar upazila. Across Gazna Beel, Dighe Beel, Boro Boli and Beel Hondohosti, an onion planting festival has begun on 18,000 hectares in late Poush.

Seeds become seedlings, then the land is prepared in a special way, fertiliser is applied and the seedlings are planted. Onions have been planted by this method for fifty or sixty years or more, and the cost of growing onions keeps rising.

Farmers say they suffered heavy losses last season. Some no longer rely only on onions and have moved to integrated farming, and to avoid losses some are thinking of producing seed themselves.

Source: Shykh Seraj, Hridoye Mati O Manush. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.