Onion farming on the rise in Jashore

Farmers in Jashore district are cultivating onion in much larger areas this season, following the recent price hike of the bulb used as a common cooking ingredient.

Talking to farmers in different areas of Jashore, it was learnt that they have been cultivating Faridpuri and Taherpuri varieties of onion for long but the recently introduced Bari-1 variety of onion seeds supplied by Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) is of much better quality.

Now Bari-1 onion seed is selling for Tk 1000 a kg while Faridpur and Taherpuri varieties for Tk 100, said the stakeholders.

Officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) said they have set a target of onion cultivation on 1,250 hectares of land in Jashore, including 400 hectares in Chougachha, 300 hectares in Bagharpara, 100 hectares each in Sadar, Sharsha, Jhikargachha, Manirampur and Keshabpur, and 50 hectares in Abhoynagar upazila.

The target is likely to exceed, said Emdadul Haque, deputy director of Jashore DAE.