Bumper onion production likely in Manikganj

The cultivators of onion, the main cash crop of three upazilas in the district, are expecting a bumper production during the current season as they have started selling onion with better profit.

The farmers exceeded its fixed onion cultivation target during the current season in the district and they are expecting a bumper production of onion and fair prices, Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) office sources said.

DAE office had set a target for cultivation of onion on 6,885 hectares of land with a production target of 1, 07, 062 metric tons of onion during the current season in all seven upazilas of the district. But onion was cultivated on 7,035 hectares of land exceeding its fixed target by 150 hectares.

Most of the onion is cultivated in Harirampur, Ghior and Shibalaya upazilas of the district. More than 80 percent of onion is cultivated only in those upazilas, the sources said.

Ahmed Ali, 50, one of the onion cultivators of village Maluchi under Shibalaya upazila, said “We are expecting a bumper production during the current season as we got quality seeds, fertilizers and other agri inputs at the right time.”

Abu Mohammad Enayet Ullah, deputy director of DAE, said the land of three upazilas of the district is suitable for onion cultivation and the farmers of the areas cultivate this spicy product as one of the main cash crops, adding that most of the onions of these areas are supplied to different markets in the country including capital city Dhaka round the year. (BSS)