Heavy rainfall threatens onion harvest in Faridpur

Farmers in Faridpur district‍‍`s Saltha and Nagarkanda upazilas are facing a crisis as incessant rainfall over the past few days has flooded approximately 70% of their onion fields.

This unexpected weather event has left the local agricultural community in a state of anxiety, fearing significant financial losses due to the potential rotting of their crops.

Ahad Hossain, a farmer from Nagarkanda upazila, expressed concerns about the financial impact, noting that the continuous heavy rain has submerged a large portion of their onion fields. Similarly, Farhad Sheikh, another local onion farmer, shared his distress about his flooded fields, especially after investing in them with a loan from a local NGO.

Tilak Kumar Ghosh, the Upazila agriculture officer, reported that around 390 hectares of onion crops have been affected by the rainfall. Authorities have advised farmers to drain the stagnant water from their fields to mitigate further damage. In Nagarkanda upazila alone, onion cultivation this year covered around 8,000 hectares.

Sudarshan Shikdar, an agriculture officer in Saltha upazila, added that 760 hectares were dedicated to onion seed cultivation and 120 hectares to the Murikata variety of onion this year. He remains hopeful that favorable weather conditions could help farmers recover from their losses.

Compounding the local crisis, onion prices in Bangladesh have soared in recent months. The price hike followed India‍‍`s decision to impose a 40% duty on onion exports. Presently, local onion varieties are being sold for Tk130 to 140 per kg, while imported onions are priced between Tk110 to 120 per kg in local markets.

Meanwhile, the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued a notification banning onion exports until March 31 of the following year. This decision, effective from December 8, is likely to further impact onion availability and prices in Bangladesh.