Poor quality seeds depress Faridpur onion farmers

The lack of quality onion seeds in Faridpur is forcing many local farmers to resow their fields, increasing both the time and cost of cultivation in the process.

However, local seed growers allege the issue mainly comes down to an influx of Indian alternatives that farmers prefer for their comparatively cheaper price despite being of lessor quality.

In addition, a huge stock of onion seeds grown last year remains unsold due to the preference for imported varieties from the neighbouring nation, they said.

In regards to how Indian onion seeds could have penetrated the market so deeply, they pointed to how illegal imports of the crop far outweigh the actual requirement.

For example, 10 kilogrammes (kgs) of onion seed are imported illegally for each kilogramme that arrives through an official channel, the farmers added.

According to sources at the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Faridpur, a total of 258 tonnes of onion seeds were produced on 1,714 hectares of land in the district last year.

A huge stock of onion seeds grown last year remains unsold due to the preference for imported varieties from the neighbouring country

Md Mafiqul Islam, an onion grower of Khoargram village under Saltha upazila, said he bought two kgs of onion seed for Tk 9,000 from a local wholesaler and then spent an additional Tk 6,000 to cultivate them.

"But not a single sapling has sprouted on my land and now I have to buy new seeds," he added.

Md Nazmul Fakir, another farmer from the same village, said he sowed nine kgs of onion seed on 36 decimals of land for Tk 65,000.

"If these seeds had grown well, I could have collected onions from four acres of land. But due to improper germination, I could cultivate only 2.5 acres of land," he added.

Baktar Khan, an onion seed grower of the Gobindapur area in Faridpur sadar upazila, said natural disasters such as pest infestations following incessant rain affected production last year.

"So, we hoped to get good prices this year but could not sell our previous stock seeds due to the excessive availability of Indian seeds," Khan added.

Similarly, Md Abul Hasan, another onion seed grower of Purba Vashanchar village in the same upazila, said he got 20 kgs of the crop from 50 decimals of land by spending Tk 60,000.

However, he too could only sell a minimal two kgs for Tk 7,000 in total.

Considering this year's disappointing outlook, Hasan says he will not cultivate onion seeds in the coming year.

"Like me, there are more farmers in our area that are leaving onion seed cultivation," he added.

Mostafa Biswas, yet another onion seed grower of the same area, said farmers like him would not be in this current predicament if the government would buy their seeds instead of from outside sources.

Md Ziyaul Haque, deputy director of the Faridpur DAE, said they have been informed about how farmers are being cheated into buying lessor quality seeds on the promise of lower prices.

"We always tell farmers not to buy loose onion seeds, but they do not pay heed to us," he added.

Haque went on to say that they are working on the situation and will punish those responsible.