Farmers in Naogaon district tend to concentrate on onion seed production due to high market price for the last two years.
A good number of peasants are producing the seed on large scale and selling them at attractive price.
Onion seed was sold straight from the growers' houses at Tk 4,500 to 5,000 last year.
Sources at the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) said some 14.83 hectares of land have been brought under onion seed cultivation in the district this year.
Ten hectares, about 70 per cent of the total onion seed, are being produced in Manda upazila of the district as this area is always a few steps ahead of others in respect of agricultural production, the sources added.
One Abu Baqar Molla of Shiata village under Manda upazila informed that he has been producing onion seeds for the last two years on his 61 decimals of land.
"I got 46 kilograms of onion seed from my last year's cultivation and I sold them at Tk 1,50,000," he added.
Grower Amzad Hossain of Gangarampur village said, "Producing onion seed is expensive and at the same time it is difficult and laborious job, but there is handsome profit if the cultivation ends with success."
"Unfortunately, the agriculture officers here do not extend helping hands to the farmers. We mostly depend on the pesticide shop owners for advice and most of the time we get deceived by them," Hossain added.
Upazila Agriculture Officer, Manda, Shaila Sharmin said, "Onion seed production has now become a common destination for many of the farmers in the upazila."
"We always try to give the best possible service to the peasants here. Sometimes, we cannot reach remote areas due to communication gaps. We will remove these inconsistencies through filling up the communication gaps as early as possible," she added.
