Hundreds of marginal peasants in Natore district are getting good yield of onions in the current season.
Timely supply of necessary agriculture inputs from the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) as well as favourable weather condition has helped them achieve their production target, said the farmers.
The DAE, earlier, had set a target of brining over 1200 hectares of land under onion cultivation this season but the farmers produced the spicy crop on some 1400 hectares of land.
Farmer Aslam Hossain (54) of Boraigram upazila said, “I have cultivated the crop on some 30 decimal spending Tk 3200 including seed, fertiliser and labour cost,”
And he is expecting to make a profit of around Tk 30,000 if the market price remains high.
The farmers who cultivated onion on their lands last October, have already started harvesting it from a few days ago in a small scale across the region and the harvesting will be continued till February, said DAE sources.
Each Kg of raw onion is being sold from Tk 40 to 50 in the retail market while from Tk 35 to 38 in the wholesale market.
Anarul Islam (32), a farmer of Bagatiparar upazila said, they are already getting good market price compared to the previous year.
Also, they consider the cultivation of onion as more lucrative than other winter crops.
Deputy Director of DAE, Rafiqul Islam said, “We have encouraged the root level farmers by providing all sorts of supports to make this programme successful.”
The farmers have also given a positive response, he added.