Noman Mosharef :
Last few years saw the onion crisis, about Tk 300 per kilo for which the issue of onion in Bangladesh is becoming vital. The agro-specialists have suggested six steps to become self-sufficient in onion production.
It is Dr Shailendranath Majumdar who has suggested six steps to reach the target.
Ensuring seeds availability
There are scarcities of good quality of onion seeds in Bangladesh. Dr. Shailendranath Majumder says, “Our country needs a total of 1100 tons of onion seeds every year. Five to six tons of onion seeds are produced by the government and 50-60 tons by the private sector. The rest is produced by the farmers.”
If we want to increase onion production, we have to increase the production and storage of these seeds.
Unified cultivation
There are 10 lakh tons of onion deficit in Bangladesh. Dr Majumder said, we have 2.37 lakh hectors land for onion cultivation. If we cultivate developed seeds, change the cultivation style, and trained the farmers, then it possible to produce more 4-5 lakh tons of onion.
We can follow unified onion cultivation in sugarcane fields, with corn, and with ginger-turmeric. Onion can be cultivated with Kachumukhi in summer seasons. “
Price stability
Dr Majumder says, a main hindrance of increasing onion production is the fluctuating of the onion price. Sometimes the farmers face losses by cultivating. Sometimes he sells seed onions due to extra price.
Most farmers sold their onion seeds in October due to rising prices last year. As a result, many farmers are not able to find seeds this year.
In April 2019, the price of 40 kg onion was Tk 400, whereas it cost was them Tk 600 to produce. As a result, due to losses, many farmers are no longer encouraged to cultivate onions.
“We organised two workshops with farmers in Faridpur and Pabna in December last year. They said, ‘We will produce 35-40 lakh tonnes of onions. You fix our price.
Capacity building of preservation system
There are no cold storages for preservation of onion in Bangladesh. If you want to produce onion for a year, you must have preservation system.
Now the farmers have reserved onion following their own method. But in this system onion get more rotten.
Onions need a temperature of 12 to 20 degrees centigrade. Humidity should be between 35 to 45. In places like Faridpur, Pabna and Rajbari where onion cultivation is more, if there were many such cold storages, the farmers could store the onion. As a result, they will produce more.
Production in summer season
The Spice Research Center of the Agricultural Research Institute of Bangladesh has so far released six varieties of onions. Of these, three varieties are summer onions. Among them, researchers are emphasizing on Bari-5 the most.
These onions are cultivating in March and harvested in June-July or cultivating in August and harvesting in November-December.
Dr. Rumman Ara Chief Scientific officer of Bangladeh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) says, “If these summer onions are cultivated, it can supply a large part of the demand. Because when these crops are harvested, the price of onions is also higher. As a result, farmers will also benefit. Onion production and supply will continue throughout the year.”
Vast Char land to be brought under cultivation
Specialists for agriculture have expressed that to increase more production it needs vast char land for the purpose. If it is possible to use the land, then need of 10 lakh tones of onion will be possible to cultivate.
But that is why the problems of onion production have to be solved. Then the farmers will be interested in onion cultivation, “says Dr. Shailendranath Majumder.
According to Bangladesh Agricultural Department, there are 30 lakh onion demands in the country where Bangladeh has locally grown it demand’s 57 per cent. Rest of onion demand has been meet up by import.
