TDS Desk:

Bangladesh has registered a 9.6% surge in onion production in the outgoing fiscal year 2023–24, thanks to favourable weather and government supports to the farmers.

The onion production stood at 37.90 lakh tonnes in FY24, up 3.33 lakh tonnes from 34.57 lakh tonnes produced in the year before.

According to data of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), the yield of onions per hectare was much higher in FY24 than the production last year.

The onion yield per hectare was 14.64 tonnes in the outgoing fiscal year, which was about 13.86 tonnes in the last fiscal year, as per DAE data.

Tajul Islam Patwary, director (monitoring wing) of DAE, said that the onion production surpassed the production target this year due mainly to good weather conditions.

“Different government initiatives, including incentives, high-quality seeds, fertilizers, irrigation and advice helped farmers cultivate onions on higher areas of farmlands this year,” he said.

Against the production target of 36.74 lakh tonnes of onion, the actual production stood at 37.90 lakh tonnes in FY24, he said.

The government distributed high-quality hybrid seeds, fertilizers and other supports among the onion producers aimed at increasing the production.

Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) imported the hybrid seed varieties to help increase local onion production amid the ever-increasing demand for the essential cooking ingredient in the country.

Dr Jahangir Alam Khan, an agro-economist and researcher, said that the government despite higher local production, the government should focus on importing some 5-6 lakh tonnes of onion to shun any possible crisis.

Despite a good harvest, around 30% of onions get spoiled due to lack of proper storage, he said.

“We need around 29-30 lakh tonnes of onion each year. There will be 26 lakh tnnes of local produce in the country after deducting the waste. Some onions are being stocked by businessmen, big farmers and traders in the country,” he said.

It is here worth noting that, the onion production in Bangladesh surged by around 12 lakh tonnes in the last four years.

The onion production was 34.57 lakh tonnes in FY23, 36.41 lakh tonnes in FY22, 33.62 lakh tonnes in FY21, 25.61 lakh tonnes in FY20 and 23.31 lakh tonnes in FY19, according to the DAE.

The yield was 13.86 tonnes per hectare in FY23, 14.05 tonnes in FY22, 13.27 tonnes in FY21, 10.76 tonnes in FY20 and 11.21 tonnes per hectare in FY19, DAE data shows.

Ariful Islam, a farmer from Kushtia said this year the weather conditions were good for onion cultivation. As a result, he got about 80 maunds of onion from one bigha of land, which was only 35 maunds last year.

“This year there were no rainfalls when the onion started to mature, helping us get good crops.

All framers from the country’s onion-producing hub that includes the districts of Rajbari, Faridpur, Pabna, Meherpur, Jhenaidah and Kushtia regions got higher yields this year compared to the previous year.