Rajbari district is famous for onion production. This year, about 33,000 hectares of land have been cultivated. The yield has also been good. Due to lack of storage, most of the farmers' onions have started rotting. Farmers are lost because they are unable to save their hard-earned harvest. Thousands of farmers have faced losses due to inadequate cold storage, lack of modern storage systems, low-quality seed sowing and lack of proper advice from the agriculture department, claim the concerned.
Scenes of farmers' onions rotting have been seen in Hatimohan, Guptalakshandia, and Mashalia of Baliakandi upazila. Most of the farmers are throwing rotten onions in ponds or open areas near their houses. The stench of rotten onions is spreading in the air. Farmers say that this year's onion harvest has been good. They worked hard in the hope of a good price. That dream has turned into a nightmare. Due to low market prices, lack of storage and rotting, they are struggling to meet their expenses. Many had cultivated onions on loans. The burden of losses is getting heavier. Farmer Bidhan Bairagi of Guptalakshandia village in Baliakandi said, "I bought 1 kg of Biplob Super onion seeds from Jamalpur market for 16 thousand taka. I planted the seedlings on 22 percent of the land.
I got 100 maunds of onions. A week after taking them home, they started rotting. Even though I took them to the market, I could not sell them. 40 maunds rotted within 10 days. I was forced to sell 60 maunds for 400 taka." He has lost about 16 thousand taka.
Farmers Anwar Sheikh, Zakir Hossain, Kalidas Bairagi and others from the same area reported such losses. They claim that government seeds are not available for onion cultivation. They are forced to buy them from the market. They have lost 15-20 thousand taka per acre of land. Deputy Director Dr. Shahidul Islam said, "I have heard that the onions in the farmer's house are rotting in Rajbari. We have identified several reasons for the rot. Many farmers have planted different varieties of onions in the hope of a bumper harvest this time. Which are not suitable for storage. These onions have rotted. Farmers should sow onion seeds after consulting the Agriculture Department.
