Gopalganj's Muksudpur upazila sees a boom in onion production

OUR CORRESPONDENT
GOPALGANJ, Jan 04: Onion cultivation has turned out to be a profitable venture for the farmers in Maharajpur union under Muksudpur upazila of the district in recent years.
High profitability is inclining the local peasants to cultivate the crop on a larger scale.
According to the Muksudpur Upazila Agriculture Office, a target was fixed to cultivate onion on 2,700 hectares of land in the upazila in the current season.
A maximum of the farming target was for the 'Lal Tir King' and 'ACI King' varieties of onion, with the production target set at 48,600 tonnes, source said.
Amanath Sheikh, 37, a young farmer of Kamlapur village under Muksudpur uapzila, said, he cultivated onion of 'Lal Tir King' variety on five bighas of land this season. If the weather condition remains favourable, he I will get about 430 to 450 maunds of onion from his field. Market value of the produce will be around Tk 11,50,000, out of which, approximately Tk3,25,000 will be counted as production cost.
Md Abdur Rahman (Rana), sub-assistant agriculture officer (SAAO) of Maharajpur union under Muksudpur upazila, told the FE a total of 577 hectares of land was targeted for onion cultivation, and by this time cultivation on above 100 hectares of land has been done.
About 2,500 farmers have been involved in onion farming here this season.
The SAAO added this time farmers are in efforts to produce onion comparatively earlier due to its high market prices.
Motiar Rahman, 48, another farmer of Gopinathpur village under Maharajpur union of the upazila, said, he cultivated onion of 'Lal Tir King' variety on four bighas of land, spending Tk 2,60,000 but he will get 350 to 360 maunds of onion, of which current market price is Tk 9,50,000.
One maund of onion is currently available at Tk2,600 to Tk2,700 in the local markets.
On the other hand, the price of onion seeds is higher than the previous year. One kilogram onion seed is selling at Tk10,000 to Tk12,000 while earlier it was Tk7,000 to Tk 8,000.
Bahauddin Sheikh, Upazila Agriculture Officer (UAO), Muksudpur upazila, told the FE a target was set to cultivate onion on 2,700 hectares of land in Muksudpur upazila this season. About 16,200 farmers are involved in the process and by this time, 200 kg onion seeds has been distributed among 200 farmers and each farmers got one kg seeds.
On the other hand, field workers like SAAO are already monitoring the farming process and giving advices to farmers, the UAO said, adding about 60 per cent of the cultivation has been completed.
Abdul Kadir Sarder, deputy director (DD) of the DAE, Gopalganj, told the FE about 3,835 hectares of land have been targeted for onion cultivation in five upazilas of the district and about 23,000 farmers are involved in the farming. By this time, 245 hectares of land have already been brought under the farming out of the target.
It is to be mentioned, a total of 600 kg onion seeds were distributed among small and marginal farmers in the district in the current season and side by side 28 demonstration plots were given to farmers in the district under revenue project.
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