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THE onion cultivation in Manikganj is facing setback this year due to acute scarcity of onion seeds on the one hand, and pest attack and thick fog on the other.
   Farmers fear drastic fall in production of onion this year as many of them are yet to start cultivation of the cash crop due to acute seed and fertiliser crises.
   According to the local Department of Agricultural Extension, 9,492 hectares of land have been earmarked for onion cultivation in the district this season. Some two lakh farmers are associated with onion cultivation in the district.
   The farmers said they had suffered a huge loss in onion cultivation in the last year for thick fog. Besides, they suffered losses during aman cultivation due to two floods in the second half of 2007. To recoup the last year’s losses of onion and paddy the farmers prepared beds for the cultivation of onion on a large scale.
   ‘We cannot start cultivation of onion on our land due to fertiliser crisis when peak time for onion farming is nearing its end’, a farmer said.
   The farmers also apprehend losses if the authorities fail to ensure adequate fertiliser. Farmers at some villages under the district while talking to New Age expressed their worries about fertiliser crisis.
   Besides, acute scarcity of onion seeds is standing as a stumbling block in the way of realising increased production of onion.
   On average, one kg of onion seeds is selling at Tk 2,000 to 3,000, this season as against Tk 1,000 to Tk 1,200 last year.
   Many of the poor and marginal farmers of the district bought onion seeds at exorbitant prices this season by borrowing money either from the village money lenders or from the NGOs.
   But most of the varieties of seeds are of inferior quality and as such they do not germinate properly much to the anxiety of the growers.
   On the top of this phenomenon, the pest attack on onion seedbeds has added to the worries of the farmers.
   The onion growers of this district, which is famous for producing a sizeable quantity of quality onion of the country, were deprived of good production of this crop last year due to large-scale destruction of onion plants caused by thick fog. This year, also, they fear to suffer losses for pest attack.
   The farmers said that a kind of grey pest locally known as ‘katei’ was cutting young onion plants in the middle. They lie hidden beneath the seedbeds during day time and come out into open at night to attack onion seedlings. They farther said the onion seedbeds could be protected from pest attack by spreading insecticides.
   But many poor and marginal farmers lack financial means to buy them. As an alternative measure some farmers have installed tree branches and bamboos in the seedbeds to enable birds to perch and punch on the pests. But pests very seldom come out into open during daytime.
   Onion farmer Afsar Ali of village Basta under Harirampur upazila said he had never seen this type of pest in his life.
   Of the seven upazilas in the district, Shibalaya, Ghior, Harirampur and Daulatpur produce huge quantity of onion. Some of the growers said onion production in the district would suffer a great setback if prompt measures were not taken by the government to combat the menace of pest, the farmers said.
   Mokbul Hossain Talukdar, deputy director of the Manikganj DAE, ruled out the allegation that there was any crisis of fertiliser. But he admitted that seed crisis and fog were hampering the onion cultivation somewhat.