Onion seed growers face production shortfall

Onion seed growers in Faridpur are worried about being able to attain their expected production levels this year due to unfavourable weather conditions, swarming caterpillar infestations and low bee pollination.

Most onion seed growers claim that the bulbs were damaged due to excessive rain amid cyclone Jawad during the cultivation period.

The farmers then planted fresh bulbs but the extreme heat just before harvest have burnt the seeds.

According to sources at the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Faridpur, a total 1,714 hectares of land across nine upazilas of Faridpur are being used to cultivate onion seeds this year while it was 1,711 hectares last year.

Farmers in the district have cultivated different varieties of onion seed, including the Rajshahi Tahirpur, Super King, Sukhsagar, Bari-4, Nasik King and also some hybrid ones. A new variety of onion seed called "Summer Season Onion" was introduced this year as well.

While visiting some farms in the Vashanchar, Purba Vashanchar and Dhuldi Gobindapur villages under Faridpur sadar upazila, this correspondent saw that most of the onion seed stems had dried up while many failed to flower due to a lack of pollination.

What's worse, some of the blubs had become detached from their stems as swarming caterpillars continue to eat away at them.

Almas Mandal, an onion seed farmer in Gobindapur village, said he cultivated onion seeds on two acres this year at a cost of Tk 3.5 lakh.

"All the bulbs were damaged due to excessive rain during the primary cultivation period in the first week of December. So, I had to replant the crops in the last week of the same month," he said.

"Still though, extreme heat has dried up most of the stems and now I worry about getting even 50 kilogrammes (kgs) of seed this year," Mandal added.

Abul Hasan Tuhin, a famer of Vashanchar village, said the time between the first week of November and the second week of December is the perfect time to cultivate onion seeds. The crops would then be ready for harvest by the last week of March and first week of April.

"But I had to cultivate onion seeds in the last week of December as rainwater was stuck on my land. I have cultivated just one acre of land this year and hope to get only 120 kgs of seed," he added.

Jalil Jamadar, another onion seed grower of the same area, said he cultivated the crop on two acres last year by spending Tk 2 lakh to get about 200 kgs of seed.

"From the seeds I got profit of Tk 1 lakh and so, I cultivated 2.5 acres this year at a cost of Tk 3.5 lakh but I will not get more than 50 kgs of seed due to various issues," he added.

Shahida Begum, one of the biggest onion seed growers in Faridpur, said she had cultivated the crop on 35 acres last year to get about 74,000 kgs of seed.

She sold each maund (37 kgs) of seed for between Tk 70,000 and Tk 250,000. But this year she cultivated only 30 acres as the rain damaged her bulbs during the initial cultivation period.

As such, onion seed production is not expected to exceed more than 30 per cent to 40 per cent of previous levels amid droughts, insect infestations and a lack of pollination this year.

Still though, she hoped that the price of onion seeds would higher than what was last year in order to offset the loss of sales.

"This year, I have cultivated a new variety of onion seed. The name is Summer Season Onion and it can be cultivated year-round," she added.

Hazrat Ali, deputy director of the Faridpur DAE, said the district was the first in Bangladesh to produce onion seeds.

Last year, a total of 890 tonnes of onion seeds were produced in 1,711 hectares of land across Faridpur.

"Although our target was to secure 850 tonnes this year, we expect that production will not exceed 500 tonnes," Ali said.

"Last year, each decimal of land produced about 1-1.25 kilogrammes of onion seed but this year, it is tough to get only 500 grams of seed from the same amount of land," he added.