MAGURA, Apr 13: The falling prices of onion have frustrated Magura growers.
The farmers said they will not be able to meet even the production cost following the declining prices.
Onion grower Jalil Mollah of Kalundi village under Sreepur upazila said that he had cultivated onion in two bighas of land and might count a total loss of Tk 2, 000 due to the price fall in two weeks.
"I have already sold onion of Tk 20,000. And I think I shall be able to sell the rest of my yield at Tk 18,000. But my production cost is around Tk 40,000 this season," he pointed out.
Achinta Biswas of Tengakhali village under Magura Sadar upazila said, "Onion is selling in the retail market at Tk 25 per kilogram but we are now getting only Tk 10 from wholesalers."
"Only two weeks ago, onion was selling at Tk 50 per kg. Now it is Tk 25. Actually, middlemen are depriving us by making syndicates," he added.
Like them, most of the growers, who had cultivated onion with the hope of getting good prices, are now counting losses despite bumper production of the essential cooking ingredient.
The farmers urged the government to ensure that they get good prices and not to allow import of onion during the harvest of the crop.
According to the officials of Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Magura, farmers in the district cultivated onion on some 11,984 hectares of land and produced over 152,080 tonnes of the crop in the current season. And around 80 per cent of harvesting has already been done in the district, they said.
District marketing officer Alamgir Hossen said, "Existing onion price is not satisfactory to the growers. Due to bumper yield and supply glut, onion prices have fallen in the market."
He, however, denied the existence of middlemen syndicate since onion market is under close observation by the authorities concerned.
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