Murikata onion farmers in Faridpur are struggling with rising production costs amid alleged shortages of fertiliser and fuel, higher labour wages and increasing prices of agricultural inputs, raising concerns over production and profitability in the new season.
Murikata onions play an important role in supplying the winter market, particularly when onion supplies from other regions remain relatively low. Farmers in Faridpur and Pabna, two key production areas, fear that rising cultivation costs and difficulties in obtaining fertiliser could affect production and push up market prices.
Farmers said they were unable to obtain adequate supplies of diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser despite paying prices well above the government-fixed rate.
Although the official price of DAP fertiliser is Tk 1,050 per bag, some farmers alleged they had to pay Tk 1,600 to Tk 1,800 per bag, yet still failed to secure the quantities they needed.
The cost of onion bulbs used for planting has also increased, with farmers paying Tk 2,800 to Tk 3,000 per maund. Higher expenses for land preparation, irrigation, planting and crop maintenance, along with rising labour wages and fuel costs, have further increased their financial burden.
Rahim Molla, Abul Kalam and Jakir Sheikh, among several Murikata onion growers in the Ambikapur fields of Faridpur Sadar upazila, said rising input costs were making cultivation increasingly difficult.
They said the prices of agricultural inputs were increasing faster than the selling prices of farm produce, leaving them uncertain about earning a satisfactory return on their investments. Lower yields or a decline in onion prices could expose them to further losses, they added.
Onion growers in Char Madhabdia, including Tuhin Mondal, Azmal Bepari and Hossain Sheikh, called for an adequate supply of fertiliser at fair prices from the beginning of the season.
They also urged the authorities to ensure fuel availability and strengthen market monitoring to prevent excessive pricing of agricultural inputs.
Without fair selling prices that reflect production costs, sustaining Murikata onion cultivation could become increasingly difficult, they warned.
Anwar Hossain, agriculture officer of Faridpur Sadar upazila, said Murikata onions were important for maintaining supplies in the winter market.
Any disruption to production could affect market supply and put pressure on onion prices, he said.
Advocate Manik Majumder, president of the Faridpur Farmers’ Association, said government subsidies would have limited impact if farmers could not obtain fertiliser, pesticides and other essential agricultural inputs in the required quantities and at the right time.
He urged the relevant authorities to strengthen oversight of fertiliser distribution and market management to ensure that farmers could buy essential inputs at fair prices.
Shahadujjaman, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Faridpur, said the cultivation target for summer onions in the current Kharif-2 season had been set at 5,885 hectares.
Ensuring the supply of agricultural inputs, controlling production costs and securing fair prices for harvested produce would be important to achieving the target, he said.
The department was providing cultivation advice to farmers and encouraging them to use organic fertiliser as an alternative to chemical fertilisers, he added.
Advocate Shipra Goswami, vice-president of the Faridpur chapter of the Committee of Concerned Citizens (Shujan), said increasing agricultural production required more than expanding cultivated land.
Timely supplies of fertiliser and fuel, along with market prices that reflected production costs, were equally important, she said.
Without such measures, rising expenses could reduce farmers’ profits and threaten both Murikata onion production and the continuity of market supplies, she added.