Low onion prices depress growers
A good domestic harvest and an upsurge in imports have led to the drop in onion prices, much to the dismay of many growers who are now staring at losses.
In growing areas, the prices of the most popular variety of locally grown onion have plunged to Tk 600 a maund (40 kilograms) from Tk 800-Tk 900 last year, according to traders. And it is the same story for the other varieties of onion.
“This year's prices appear to be one of the lowest in years,” said Md Safar Ali Biswas, an onion grower at Chowgachhi village of Magura, one of the onion growing districts.
For Biswas and many others in the southwest and northwest districts of Magura, Rajbari, Faridpur and Pabna, cultivating onion, an essential cooking ingredient, is one of the main sources of income.
“At the going prices it will not be possible to bear our cost of living,” said Biswas, who has grown onion on one acre this season.
He has to invest about Tk 13,000 to grow onion on 28 decimals of land, from where he can get 20-28 maunds of the vegetable. The sum does not include the cost of labour.
“Growers here cultivate onion and garlic as cash crops, so the price fall has squeezed their income,” said Gobinda Saha, an onion trader in Rajbari district.
The ample supply of onion amid a good local harvest and increased imports has brought down the prices, traders and farmers said.
Onion imports soared 54 percent year-on-year to 7.14 lakh tonnes in the first half of fiscal 2016-17, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. “We suffer from low prices whenever imported farm produce floods the market,” said Abdul Hai, a small farmer in Pabna.
Domestically, onion acreage and production have been on the rise since fiscal 2013-14 because of growers' renewed interest. In fiscal 2015-16, Bangladesh's onion production grew 2 percent year-on-year to 17.35 lakh tonnes. It was grown on 1.77 lakh hectares that year, according to BBS.
Farmers planted onion on 2.10 lakh hectares this fiscal year, according to the Department of Agricultural Extension's estimates.
Neighbouring India, a big source of the key cooking ingredient for Bangladesh, saw higher production this year.
As a result, the prices in Bangladesh have remained low for the last several months, said Ratan Kumar Saha, an onion importer. Narayan Chandra Saha, a wholesaler at Shyambazar market, expects the onion prices to remain low for the next couple of months.
In Dhaka, the retail prices of locally grown onion stood at Tk 20-26 per kilogram yesterday, down from Tk 25-35 a year ago. The prices of imported onion were also below last year's level, according to data from the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh. To protect farmers, Mohammad Kamruzzaman, an onion trader in Sachilapur, Magura, urged the government to discourage imports during the harvesting period.