Despite a record-breaking onion harvest in Rajbari, the third-largest producing district in Bangladesh, local farmers are facing severe financial distress as market prices fail to cover rising production costs.
Rajbari supplies approximately 15 to 16 percent of the country’s total onion demand, with extensive cultivation across Baliakandi, Pangsha, and Kalukhali upazilas.
However, the arrival of the new ‘Hali’ onion in the markets has been met with a price crash that has left growers frustrated.
In major markets such as Baliakandi, Sonapur, and Kolarhat, a maund (approximately 37kg) of onions is currently selling for just Tk800 to Tk1,000.
Farmers argue that these rates make it impossible to recover their investment. The cost of production has soared this season due to the abnormally high prices of fertilisers, seeds, irrigation, and labour wages.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Hali onions were cultivated on 34,800 hectares of land in the district this year.
While favourable weather conditions resulted in the expected yields, the market situation has left thousands of farming families in a state of uncertainty.
Md Hasmat Ali, a farmer from Baliakandi, explained the crisis, “We are selling onions for Tk800 to Tk1,000 per maund, but our production cost exceeded Tk1,000 to Tk1,200. With the rise in prices for diesel and labour, we are effectively paying out of our own pockets to sell our produce.”
The situation is further complicated by trade dynamics. Roknuzzaman, a farmer from Goalanda upazila, noted that reports of onion imports from India often coincide with the local harvest, leading to a sharp drop in market rates.
He claimed that a price of at least Tk2,000 per maund is necessary for farmers to survive.
Another farmer from Kalukhali, Md Ujjwal Sheikh, demanded that retail prices should not fall below Tk 50 to Tk 60 per kg to prevent thousands of farmers from becoming destitute.
Addressing the situation, Md Shahidul Islam, deputy director of the Rajbari DAE, said the production target for the district has been set at 538,000 metric tonnes. He attributed the current low prices to the seasonal surge in supply, which currently exceeds demand.
“Farmers would be profitable if the price were between Tk1,500 and Tk2,000 per maund,” Shahidul said.
He expressed optimism that although prices are low during the peak lifting season, they are expected to rise in the coming months, offering some relief to the growers.
