Recent Onion Crisis in Bangladesh: Planning and Management Scopes
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Recent Onion Crisis in Bangladesh: Planning and Management Scopes
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Author: Prof. Dr. Md. Jafar Ullah (jafarullahsau@gmail.com)
This article is posted on March 06, 2020, and is subject to corrections, modifications, editing, and updating
Bangladesh at a glance:
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Summary
In Bangladesh, onion is widely used as a spice mainly for preparing curries. The country has been experiencing a huge shortage of onion in its markets due to its less inland production coupled with the export ban by India. Bangladesh has favorable climates for onion production. It can be grown both in winter and summer although the summer output is almost negligible. Currently, Bangladesh produces 1867 thousand tons of onion from 186 thousand hectares of land showing a productivity of 10.038 t/ha. Rajshahi and Dhaka division have greater productivity. The suggested strategies to increase the production are selecting lands on the most suitable lands, using the most productive and adaptive varieties, finding more lands in the existing cropping patterns without disturbing the principle crops growing onion in intercropped or relay system, increasing its acreage in summer season, improving field and post-harvest operations to avoid in field or at harvest or post-harvest loss, improving the modern storage facilities, giving more incentives to farmers, finding more productive, longer shelf life and disease or insect tolerant varieties by research, alternative crops/ways and changing food preparation habits, importing quality bulbs and seeds, market monitoring in terms of supply and illegal storage and control along with strategic tax fixation for the importers, easy credit supply to the farmers during harvest period, finding alternative onion-exporting countries, enforcing farmers cooperatives or societies for protecting their interest themselves.
Onion Crisis in Bangladesh: Introduction
In Bangladesh, onion is widely used as a spice mainly for preparing curries. The country has been experiencing a huge shortage of onions in markets since November of the last year (1999). It happened mainly due to the export ban by India on which Bangladesh relied most for onion import. Such refusal by India was also observed in 2008.
Under the circumstance, the Bangladesh government imported onion to sell in its open market at a subsidized price from some other countries although those were not enough as per the market demands. The onion crisis is still continuing even though its inland production is in full swing. During the crisis, the price of the onion in the local markets rose from 30 to 260 taka per kilo, and even at present it is being sold Taka 100-150 a kilo despite the early variety of onion has already been harvested by the farmers and are being sold in the market simultaneously along with the imported ones. So, it would be a good approach to find ways to face a such crisis in the future.
It was really a crisis
Increasing commodity prices at the pick affects consumers' interest which the government gives the most emphasis on to avoid political turmoil. Such happens not only in Bangladesh but also there is evidence of the country on unrest by the opposition who takes the advantage of sudden price hikes in the agricultural commodity-market. Because spices are among the top food types which are expensive almost in all the countries of the world.
India imposed a ban on onion export after having been badly affected last year by drought in the spring crop, while severe rainfall in the winter season in late September caused devastating yield reductions. Onion was a source of political issues in the past several times in India. Indira Gandhi came to power in 1980 mainly making the issue of ‘soaring onion prices’ which again became an issue in the 1998 election and again in 2010.
Bangladesh was not an exception in having a peaceful situation when the onion price jumped to the sky top. Even in the Parliament in a debate, the government parliamentarians had a hot talk about the discontent of the onion consumers blaming to the businessmen for the devastating situation. Some parliamentarians also opined not to raise a hue and cry over the rise of agricultural commodities as it is encouraging the farmers to grow more.
Environment and soil needs for onion
Onion likes sandy loam to clay loam soil rich in humus and fairly good content of potash. As it has a shallow root system, it needs friable soil enriched with enough plant nutrients and moisture in the upper 10 cm layer. It likes soil pH optimum between 5.8 and 6.5 but can be grown at pH up to 8. At pH below 5.5, magnesium and molybdenum availability may drop, and above 6.5, zinc, manganese, and iron may become deficient (https://www.indiaagronet.com). In organic soils, it can be grown at a pH of 4. It prefers moderate temperatures and short days for the formation of bulbs.
As it has a shallow root system, it needs continuous moisture supply as the upper surface of the soil gets dry rapidly being exposed to direct sunlight. For this reason, it needs frequent irrigation. In contrast, the onion can not withstand water logging conditions. When grown in sandy soil the maturity becomes earlier. The heavy soil gives rise to misshapen bulbs (Chowdhury and Hassan, 2013; indiaagronet.com).
Onion contains a substantial amount of constituents in its body needing a heavy dose of fertilizer for its cultivation (McGillivray, 1961). Like tuber and root crops, onion consumes a large amount of potash which is needed to use in the transportation of photosynthates and increasing the bulb size. The potash-rich bulb has also longer storage life (Sangakkara and Piyadasa, 1993). Like in other crops potassium is helpful for increasing the resistance to pests and disease; and also reducing stem breakage due to strong wind (Islam et al., 2008). Even the source of potassium also affects both onion yield and quality. Chloride of KCl (muriate of potash) may cause the burning of leaves and deteriorate the onion bulbs. So, using K2SO4 is more useful along with supplying sulfur in addition which improves the quality of the onion bulbs. Other sources of potash such as Sulphate of potash (SOP) also contain sulfur and have been found to perform better than the muriate of potash (Nabi et al, 2010; Naher et al., 2017). Onion responds to N and S positively in terms of yield and quality of bulbs [Patel and Patel, 1990; Vachhani and Patel,1993]. Onion cultivation also needs much amount of P application as it contains a big mass of this content in its body.
Sowing time is very important for onion cultivation as it affects bulb yield, quality, and shelf life. Sowing onion seeds in seed beds for seedling production generally starts in November when the water recedes from the highlands. The 30-45 days old seedlings are transplanted in the main lands when those become dry mostly in the month of December. In case constrained by the over soil-moisture due to the delay of water depletion of the standing water or sudden or abnormally heavy rain, both the seed production, as well as the seedling transplantation, may be delayed extending to even up to the month of January last causing the crop to lose bulb yields. The delayed planting of onions is also practiced in lands that become inundated by the flush floods and are mostly saucer type having raised lands at the periphery and ditches at the center. Onions along with other winter crops are planted in the periphery of this saucer type of land and such lands predominate in the southern coastal regions of Bangladesh. The delayed seedling transplantation may also happen due to the abnormal rain in the months of October to December which not only make delays in onion planting but may cause damage to the onion seedling in the early planted crops necessitating resowing/retransplanting in the seedbed or in the main lands. Due to the occurrence of heavy rain in November at Pabna, farmers had to transplant onion seedlings late in the month of December 2019 (Daily Star, Nov 25, 2019).
Late planting also makes delays in harvesting which may extend even up to April-May when monsoon rain is already on set. This makes it disadvantageous in both harvesting and drying of the bulbs which may enhance the infestation of the storage diseases. Even after harvest the much humid and rainy weather may cause the onion bulbs to suffer from rot disease. For these reasons, the February harvest of onion has the best keeping quality as at this time there is plenty of sunshine for easy harvest and dry them up. On rainy days the root system clings to the sticky mud deteriorating the bulb’s quality.
In some of the onion growing areas, onion is also grown sowing in the month of September – October and harvesting early from the month of December, in most cases, in immature stages, so as to catch the ‘hiked price’ of the market. Both the leaves and bulbs of the half-matured onion can be used in the kitchen which eventually helps to meet up the demands of onions in the deficit onion market to some extent.
Current production status
Onion ranks second among the fifteen vegetables as specified by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). About 3.72 million hectares of land are covered under its cultivation each year on a global scale producing over 74 million metric tons of which 8% is internationally traded. China, India, and the US are the world's leading onion-producing countries. It is usually used as an ingredient in a savory dish, chutneys, and or eaten raw. Bangladesh, although is not listed among the 10th top onion-producing countries, its production has trended in the past several years.
In Bangladesh, besides adding taste to the curries, onion is used in preparing pickling, chutney, and sauces (Sobhan, 2019). The main edible portion of the onion is the bulb which is constituted by the fleshy sheath and stem plate. The onion bulb is rich in phosphorus, calcium, carbohydrates, etc. It also contains protein and vitamin C. The most important characteristic of onion is its flavor which increases the taste of food. Onion is also widely used in some other food items, such as gravies, soups, stew stuffing, fried fish, and meat [Ali et al. 2007; Hossain et al. 2017].
According to BBS (2017) In the production of onions in Bangladesh was respectively 134, 769, 1159, 1704, and 1866 thousand tons respectively in 1999, 2006, 2012, 2015, and 2017 from 34, 116, 170, and 186 thousand hectares of land (BBS 2017). Compared to 2012-13, onion production in the country increased by 59 percent and (Ahmed and Hoque, 2019).
As per the latest report onion production during 2018-2019 was 2330 thousand metric tons with a demand of 3600 thousand metric tons. As such the annual production deficit in Bangladesh is 1270 thousand metric tons (Sobhan, 2019). Bangladesh imported about 0.27 million (270 thousand) metric tons of onion and so the market deficit amounts to one million metric tons. But there are different other opinions regarding the annual deficit of onion in Bangladesh saying that the deficit lies between 0.3 to 0.5 million metric tons (Minto, 2019). Bangladesh imported 100 to 110 thousand metric tons of onion during the 2013-14 fiscal year (BBS, 2015). Despite controversy in the amount of both annual production and deficit, there is no doubt that we have a deficit and we have to increase our production ourselves to avoid such crises in the future.
According to the available information, Bangladesh produces two third of its needs and so attempts to be adopted to increase its inland production by 33%. This could be done either by bringing more land under onion cultivation or increasing per-hectare productivity. The former would be very difficult as we can not stop cultivating staple crop rice like boro rice and some other main winter crops in the onion growing season. Bangladesh also imports a number of winter food crops like oilseeds and pulses which are also on the deficit list. So, the best way is left to increase the per unit land productivity of onion.
Acreage of the onion by divisions
The major administrative unit of Bangladesh is the division. It has seven divisions and these are Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Mymensingh, Rangpur, and Sylhet. The greatest onion-producing division is Dhaka (77629 ha) and then in a sequence of the downward hierarchy are Khulna (28828 ha), Rangpur (8700 ha), Mymenshigh (2989 ha), Chittagong (2108 ha), Barisal (881 ha) and Sylhet (304 ha) (figure below)
The figure above shows the production of the onion by divisions
As having the acreage, the most onion-producing division is Dhaka (711822 tons), and then in a sequence of the downward hierarchy are Khulna (372316 tons), Rangpur (76094 tons), Mymenshigh (20130 tons), Chittagong (9977 tons), Barisal (3463 tons) and Sylhet (1750) (figure below). That means the production of onion followed the trend of the acreages of the respective divisions.
Productivity of onion by divisions
The productivity did not follow the trend of either the acreage or that of the product showing the highest productivity in the Khulna division (12.91 t/ha). The second-highest productive division was Dhaka (9.17 t/ha). The Rangpur and Mymensingh divisions had a productivity of 6.73 to 7.71 t/ha). Productivity of the fourth category was in the Sylhet division (3.75 t/ha). Chittagong and Barisal divisions had the lowest productivity status showing respective values of 4.75 and 3.93 t/ha. (figure below).
The leading onion-growing districts in terms of acreage under onion cultivation
Compared to the other 59 districts, the production of onion cultivation is greater in five districts; Pabna (42476 ha 22.86% of the acreage), Faridpur (33186 ha 17.86%), Rajbari (26169 ha 14.08%), Rajshahi (11162 ha 6.01%) and Kustia (10415 ha 5.61%). The total coverage of these five districts is 66.41% of the total onion acreage in Bangladesh. In the second category excluding the above said districts, three districts (Acres: Manikgonj-17808, Jhinaidaho-16236, and Magura-13897; follow the following table) have greater areas comprising 10.45% of the total onion-lands; and in combination with the above said five leading districts, the total coverage under onion cultivation by these eight districts is 76.86% of the Bangladesh total onion lands.
The leading contributor districts in terms of onion production
The production of onion cultivation is greater in five districts (Production & % of the total onion production: 385669 tons 20.66%); Pabna (431091 tons 23.09%), Faridpur, Rajbari (169417 tons 9.08%), Rajshahi (160873 tons 8.62%) and then Kustia (127547 tons 6.83%). These five districts produce 68.28% of the total onion produced in Bangladesh. The production from the Jhenaidah district is also substantial (84176 tons 4.51%) and combined with the major five onion-producing districts, these six districts contribute 72.71% to the national annual production.
The leading districts in terms of onion productivity
The productivity of onion in different districts ranged from 1.911/ha at Patuakhali to 14.412 t/ha at Rajshahi. There is an exceptional instance of having the onion productivity at Meherpur district showing 24.980 t/ha, although there is evidence that our neighboring country ‘’ produces 25-30 tons of onion per hectare in some of its lands. The Meherpur district produces 73473 tones of onion from its 7265 acres of land. Excluding the data of Meherpur (table follows in some of the forwarding pages), the greatest productive land lies in the district of Rajshahi (14.412 t/ha) and then the order becomes in sequence under the districts of Kustia (12.264 t/ha), Faridpur (11.621 t/ha), Pabna (10.149 t/ha) and Rajbari (6.474 t/ha). That is, although the total production followed the acreage, the productivity differed showing the top productive lands in Rajshahi. Rajshahi, Kustia and Faridpur districts produced onion above 10 tons per hectare (table below). It was also observed that despite having more coverage with onion, Dhaka and Rajshahi division has lower productivity as compared to that of the Khulna division which may the attributed to the exceptionally highest yield in the Meherpur district (24.98 t/ha). The reasons for this high onion yield in the Meherpur district need to be found out which may include farmers' good management practices, soil and environmental privileges, and varietal choice. Whatever may be the reasons, it happened if the data is not erratic. However, excluding the productivity of Meherpur, the average yield across the districts of Khulna divisions is 9.40 tons per hectare which is below that of the Rahshahi and equals to that of the Dhaka division.
Strategies to increase onion acreage and production in Bangladesh
Scope of increasing the onion acreage based on the suitability of lands
In Bangladesh 63% (6149 thousand hectares) of the net cropped land is suitable for growing onion of which 5% (478 thousand hectares) is very suitable, 29% (2832 thousand ha) is suitable and 29% is marginally suitable (Hussain, 2010). At present, 459 thousand hectares are under onion cultivation (BBS, 2018). That is, at present onion is not being even grown fully utilizing the most suitable lands in Bangladesh (96%) leaving still 4% of its most suitable lands outside onion cultivation. Further, six times more lands as compared to that currently used are suitable wherein onion may be cultivated successfully. However, in those lands, many other important crops are being grown. So, two alternatives are left; one - to increase the per hectare productivity and the second - to promote onion cultivation in the summer season when the crop completion is lesser compared to those in the winter season.
Finding niches to incorporate onion in the existing rabi (winter) season’s patterns
Bangladesh's cropping pattern with onion has been studied in a project (Nasim et al., 2017). It was observed that there are seventeen cropping patterns with onion in Bangladesh. Let us have a little look into that and find some niches wherein onion could be incorporated to increase its acreage.
The cropping patterns having onion along with the component crops in sequence
In the following paragraphs, different cropping patterns with onion (Masum et al., 2017) are described where the area covered and the percent of the net cropped area of the country has been shown in parentheses.
The greatest pattern with onion is the Onion−Jute−T. Aman (54185 ha - 0.633% of the net cropped area) and the second largest pattern is Onion−Jute−Fallow (45200 ha - 0.528%). That is, the major share of onion remains with the jute-cultured lands. In these patterns, the onion is grown early in the winter season transplanting onion seedlings in the month of October. These two patterns comprise a total area of 99385 hectares. In these lands, water gets dry either after the harvest of transplanted aman rice or on lands that were kept fellow in the rainy season due to the deep water regime.
After the jute-based cropping patterns, it is the transplanted aman-based patterns that have the second greatest area having onion in the patterns. The transplanted aman rice crop is grown in the time span of July to October when almost all the lands in Bangladesh look green and are occupied by crops. Only some vegetable crops such as colocasia is sporadically cultivated and are used as one the vegetables in Bangladesh. The patterns with transplanted Aman having onion cover 70105 ha of land. In such lands, the preceding crops are jute/boro rice/winter crops/vegetables. Such lands are of medium to medium-low wherein transplanted aman is grown after harvesting jute or after a short span of the fallow period at the post-harvest of rabi or boro crops. The T. aman-based cropping patterns with onion have been identified to be six, such as Onion−Fallow−T. Aman (6380 ha - 0.074%), Onion−Aus−T. Aman (4260 ha - 0.050%), onion – Sesame − T. Aman (3080 ha - 0.036%), Onion−Maize−T. Aman (1490 ha - 0.017%), Potato−Onion−T. Aman (510 ha 0.006%) and Vegetab−Onion−Jute−T. Aman (200 ha - 0.002%).
Onion is also grown before sowing or transplanting aus rice which is the third greatest pattern containing onion totaling 19875 ha of land. In general onions in such patterns are planted before sowing or transplanting aus rice. In Bangladesh, Aus rice is grown in the month of March – April either rain-fed or transplanted. The rainfed aus rice has been drastically reduced in Bangladesh as the sowing time overlaps with the later stage of the boro rice. In some areas, the aus rice is grown using irrigation wherein seedlings are transplanted after harvesting some of the rabi crops among which onion is the main one. There are five onion and aus rice-containing patterns which are: Onion−Aus−Fallow (8705 ha - 0.102%), Onion−Aus−T. Aman (4260 ha - 0.050%), Vegetable−Onion−Aus (3200 ha - 0.037%), Wheat − Aus −Onion (1900 ha - 0.022%), and Onion−Aus−Blackgram (1810 ha - 0.021%).
The pattern with B. aman rice and onion falls at the fourth position having two patterns; one with only B. Aman (Onion−B.Aman (10905 ha - 0.127%) and another includes sesame which is grown before sowing of B. Aman (Onion−Sesame+B.Aman (2100 ha 0.025%). These two patterns have 13005 ha of land in their commands. The cropping pattern having onion and B. aman is mainly of the two-crop pattern. There is another pattern with B. Aman which is of a three-crop pattern with additional crop sesame grown in the pre-monsoon season after the harvest of early onion. Such lands are low wherein broadcast aman rice is direct-sown in the months of March - April at the onset of rain which is harvested in the month of November – December along with the main rice crop ‘transplanted aman’. This time, most of the lands of Bangladesh become free of gravitational water. The lowland areas can never be used for growing transplanted aman rice as the seedlings can not be transplanted due to deep water above one meter during June – August time. Such lands are the storage of rainwater or flood water coming across the border.
There is a vegetable-crop-based pattern with onion having an area of 11735 ha which is high and wherein rain or flood water never stands and in these lands, year-round vegetables can be grown. In such lands, onion is grown in October through March and thereafter two vegetable crops can be grown sequentially. This pattern is Onion−Vegetable−Vegetable (11735 ha- 0.137%).
There is another type of land having onion in the cropping pattern. These lands are very low in elevation and remain water stagnated in the rainy season; so no crop can be grown in such lands except in the dry spell of winter. These types of lands have two cropping patterns; one with sesame which is sown after the harvest of onion and another is maize in the place of sesame. Such lands with onion and maize account for a total of 10495 hectares that has either aus, sesame, or in some instances, maize at the post-harvest of onion wherein onion is grown in rabi season (winter) planting in the month of November or December and thereafter maize, sesame or aus is grown in the pre-monsoon season. In the pre-monsoon time maize is generally grown for fodder in Bangladesh. There are three cropping patterns with onion in these low lands where T. aman can not be grown and these are Onion−Aus−Fallow (8705 ha - 0.102%), Onion−Sesame−Fallow (1270 ha - 0.015%) and Onion−Maize−Fallow (520 ha - 0.006%).
It would be worth that in Bangladesh, there are some lowlands where not even the deep water paddy can stand in the rainy season due to the water depth beyond plants’ maximum height. As a result, such lands are kept totally fallow as the rice plants can not anchor to the soil because of their plant height in comparison to the depth of water.
The pattern in high lands having onion and aus may include black gram which is grown in the rainy season time Monsoon). A three-crop pattern containing onion is Onion−Aus−Blackgram which accounts for 1810 ha of land and 0.021% of the net cropped area, and the two-crop pattern with onion is Onion−Aus−Fallow (8705 ha - 0.102%).
Cropping Patterns with summer onion in Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, there are some areas wherein summer onions are grown after harvesting aus rice. Such lands are high in elevation where rainwater does not stand. Wheat−Aus−Onion is the pattern and the pattern covers 1900 ha of land (0.022% of the net cropped area). Summer onion production is constrained by medium to heavy rainfall coupled with high temperatures when the incidence of disease and insects is more frequent in comparison to those observed in the rabi season. However, a controlled environment under the transparent shed to prevent rain is one of the ways to boost production in the summer season although this incurs an extra production cost.
Onion in Bangladesh is largely grown during the winter season, but in nowadays, summer onions are also produced although on a limited scale to reduce the deficit in onion production (BBS, 2017). As described above, in winter it is mostly grown in T aman rice-based cropping patterns in the medium highlands using the major cropping pattern of Mustard-Onion-T. Aman rice. Currently, onion in this mustard-based pattern is seen to be being replaced by maize; and as such onion has been competitive with maize in this pattern reforming the pattern as Mustard-summer Onion/Maize-T. Aman Rice. Along with some other areas, the pattern is dominantly observed in Pabna.
This competition of onion and maize in the same season on the same land can be avoided by relaying maize in the onion field. In one trial the feasibility of relaying maize with onion has been evaluated in the pattern Mustard-Onion/Maize-T. Aman Rice planting maize seeds in the 70 days onion field. It was found that this relayed pattern had greater rice equivalent yield (29.95 t/ha, total field duration of four crops (340 days), production efficiency (88.1 kg/ha/day), and land use efficiency (93.15%) against the sole onion in the sequence having respective values of 21.76, 270, 80.58 and 73.15. That is growing sole maize in a rice-based cropping pattern can be made more profitable by incorporating onion as the main crop in the maize-relayed four-crop system. This will also increase the cropping intensity of the area. In Bangladesh maize has been very popular as it can be sold in the market at a fair price. Recently maize grains have been being used as feeds for both poultry and livestock. Bangladesh has flourished in its poultry industry. Moreover, a substantial portion of maize grains is used for the preparation of fish feeds in which sector Bangladesh is almost self-sufficient. Using this relay-based Mustard-summer Onion/Maize-T. Aman Rice in which onion and maize can be grown simultaneously as Bangladesh requires both of these crops. It is also to be mentioned here that maize in Bangladesh is grown in rabi and also in the Kharif 1. The rabi maize is sown after the harvest of T. aman in the system Maize-Aus-Long duration T.aman whereas, the Kharif 1 maize crop is sown after the harvest of potato in the cropping system of Potato-Maize-Early T.aman.
Giving emphasis on growing the correct crop on the correct lands at the correct time to achieve the maximum per unit land productivity
We must recognize that it would be very difficult to grow all the crops we need in Bangladesh for getting products up to the amount the country requires for its consumers annually. Because the country has lesser per capita agricultural land (0.047 ha) as needed due to its huge population. So, planning strategies have to be set in such a way that the resources are utilized most efficiently producing the products as much as possible, especially for having those for which we have to spend our reserved foreign currency to import.
Onion ranks 10th position in respect of trade value after palm oil, cane sugar, wheat, soybean oil, pulses, cotton, soybean grains, and rape seeds wherein the onion costs trade values of 22837 thousand US dollars annually for its import (countryaah.com). So, agricultural produce having higher trade values for import must also be given emphasis so that the acreage and productivity of those crops can be increased to save foreign currency. For this, the lands in which the best crop in respect of productivity should be chosen. That is, we have to grow the correct crop(s) at the correct time on the correct lands.
The following section may help us to select the most suitable areas for onion production without disturbing the cropping patterns with other crops which along with the onion are in deficit and being imported from abroad.
Based on the above information given above while presenting the data under division and district level, especially in a major growth area, let us analyze the situations. A particular cropping pattern is developed by a number of actors which may include farmers' or locality’s crops’ needs, market demands, profitability, soil characteristics, and socio-cultural aspects. While a particular cropping pattern is adopted by the farmers of a locality, that means it has been supported by most of the above-mentioned actors. In the story, as described in the above sections with the onion statistics in different divisions, especially major onion-growing districts, it was observed that onion was not equally grown across the country. Faridpur, Rajbari, Pabna, Rajshahi and Kustia districts are the top yielders of onion in Bangladesh. Magura, Meherpur, Brahmanbaria, Chandpur and Bhola districts also grow some amount but that contributes less to the total onion production in Bangladesh.
Besides the districts mentioned above, all other districts also produce some amount of onion although those are also almost negligible compared to the leading onion-producing districts. And although those are not remarkably contributing to the country’s total onion production, these minor onion-producing districts meet up at least some of the total requirement of its own district preventing mass transport from other or neighboring districts. This also helps keep the local market price lower as the transport cost from other districts is not added to the market price.
Giving emphasis on summer onion production
Summer onion varieties should also be promoted as they could be grown around the year, give higher yields, and mature in a shorter period compared to winter onions. For doing this, the first priority is increasing the seed production capacity for the summer varieties. BARI has released three onion varieties for the summer season. In one study, it was observed that the yield of BARI piaj-2 was higher than the BARI piaj-3 and BARI piaj-5 showing average yields of 12.72, 12.33, and 12.18 t/ha, respectively (Haq et al., 2016). However, in the farmers’ opinion, BARI Piaz-5 has been reported to perform the best giving high yields that compare to those generally obtained with the winter crops grown in the higher-yielding areas of Pabna and Rajshahi. Moreover, the duration of the summer onion is 30-40 days lesser than that those of the winter one. Further in the summer season (Kharif), a number of crops to be grown are fewer as compared to those of the winter season (rabi).
Avoiding pre and post-harvest loss to increase the supply of onion in the market
Improving storage facilities
Under Bangladesh, condition storage is done with the product of rabi for 4 to 5 months. Using organic matter in the fields increases the storage capacity of onions along with the use of other chemical fertilizers. Immediately after harvest, the onion along with its leaves should be dried in the sun for 8-10 days, this also improves color. The storage condition the storage temperature and humidity are very important. Keeping storage temperature between 25-30 degrees C with a relative humidity of 65-70% is optimum. Reducing humidity may cause drying.
At storage, drying of the onion continues losing moisture in the bulb resulting in bulb weight reduction. Another loss arises from storage rot (picture below) which becomes serious when bulbs are infested by bulb-rotting fungi and bacteria (Jones and Mann, 1963). Such loss occurs by being infested by about 15 different fungal species and five bacterial species in the storage in the world causing a loss of up to 40% (Aiyer, 1980). Under Bangladesh conditions Black mold rot (Aspergillus niger, picture below), Grey neck rot (Botrytis allii). White rot (Sclerotium cepstrum, picture below), soft rot, and Dry rot (Macrophomina phasiolina). Among these, black mold rot may become serious causing a drastic loss at high storage temperatures and high relative humidity.
The picture below: Black rot of onion bulb. Source:pestnet.org
The picture below: White rot onion, source: white rot gardening which.co.uk
The picture below: onion storage rot, source:extension.umaine.edu
Factors influencing storage bulbs are variety, growing season, harvesting stage, curing, fertilizer and irrigation application, storage techniques, storage conditions, temperature, humidity, etc. Early harvesting results in the sprouting of bulbs (Picture below ) while late harvesting results in the formation of secondary roots during storage. Thick-neck bulbs resulting from premature harvesting also do not store well. The bulbs should be graded according to size and quality. The cool, dry, and well-ventilated store room will keep onion bulbs in good condition for many months. On average, the storage loss of onion bulbs may be 45-60% due to respiration weight loss, rotting of the bulb and sprouting. This storage loss can be minimized by the selection of suitable varieties with long shelf life, efficient irrigation management, balanced fertilization, the optimum time of planting, proper harvesting time, and improved storage. In cold storage, onion can be stored nearly for 10-12 months with temperatures of 0-5ºC and relative humidity of 60%. The rabi (winter) onion stores better than the Kharif ones (Chowdhury and Hassan, 2013 ).
The picture below: onion sprouting in storage. Source: dreamstrime.com
Controlled atmosphere storage is increasingly practiced to maintain quality in stores over longer periods and extend the marketing period. Maintaining CO2 levels at 5% inhibits fungal sporulation and O2 at 3% reduces sprouting.
Temperatures should be around 34°F {1.11 deg cen} to help reduce respiration and relative humidity kept at 65-70% in order to inhibit fungal spread.
Pre-harvest (2-3 w) spray maleic hydrazide prolongs the storability inhibiting sprouting, ethephon pre-harvest spray (25 w), ethylene, fumigation with Sulphur dust before storage, variety having longer dormancy period,
Increasing Productivity for increasing the total production through some improved practices
Onion is one of the profitable crops in Bangladesh although there arises some turmoil due to occasional natural hazards and incidental unexpected situations in the international trade and inland’s uncontrolled business management. All of the above is difficult to handle and so Bangladesh has to adopt some other alternative ways to solve its onion crisis to increase onion supply in its market.
The per-capita land of the Bangladeshi people is very low, assuming the net cropped area and country’s population respectively 7.93 million hectares and 170 million, which is near about 0.047 hectares. So, horizontal expansion of onion cultivation would be very difficult without removing some other crops from our cropping system. Vertical expansion through adopting and practicing improved technologies then remains to be the alternative.
Bangladesh has varieties of limitations in respect to its resources and its unpredictable climate nature. Further, global climate change has added hugely to the pre-existing limitations. Owing to these limitations onion production is not sustainable yet and there is variations in onion productivity from region to region and even from the national perspective. Despite these sorts of limitations, the per hectare productivity has been increasing year after year rising from 3.940 tons in 2090 to 10.045 tons in 2014-15 growing season although this average productivity has dropped to 9.79 t/ha in 2017-18 (BBS, 2018).
It was previously discussed above that the maximum productivity was noticed in the Meherpur district which exceeded 24 tons/ha. Provided that Meherpur’s yield productivity is unusual, then taking the BBS (2018) yield data of Rajshahi district which was 14.412 tons/ha, and the least productivity of Patuakhali district which was 1.911 tons/ha, we observe that there is a long yield variation gap which is 12.501 tons/ha. Although filling this gap is not really possible due to our respective district’s local resources and natural limitations, on the estimation ground we could say that we may produce at least 2680 thousand tons which may be more high compared to that of our current annual onion production of 1867 thousand tons from 186 thousand hectare of land (BBS, 2018). Onion production was 2400 thousand tons during the 2018-2019 growing seasons and our current demand is said to be 3300 to 3600 thousand tons (Minto, Sobhan, 2019 ). So, if this potential could be achieved, we must even import over 800 thousand tons of onion annually to meet up our local demand.
However, the situation of Meherpur may direct us to the way of having the maximum potential of yield productivity of over 24 tons/ha which will make us capable of producing onion in Bangladesh 4464 thousand tons annually. This may be an arbitrary assumption but it could be reached provided all the socio-economic, crop management, and natural conditions of Rajshahi district and or Meherpur districts are set everywhere in Bangladesh where onion is currently grown. Even in our neighboring country India, onion is grown at the productivity rate of 30 tons/ha. The above demonstrations proved that even if we can raise our national yield to over 14 tons/ha. We have to import onion from abroad using our valuable currency. It is therefore mandatory that after adopting the necessary measures to reach the maximum potential, we must find another way as well to increase onion production in Bangladesh.
Sowing at right time, using good varieties, fertilizer, weed control, and irrigation are among the most important management practices to boost per hectare productivity of onions. Such management practices are generated mainly by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) and have been compiled by Chowdhury and Hassan (2013).
One other factor, ‘onion bolting’ (bolting pictures below) affects onion bulb yield severely. Onion bolting refers to the emergence of a seed stalk prior to the formation and development of a bulb. The seed onion crop does not form bulbs or is very small-sized if formed. The onion flower stalk has also commercial importance as like onion bulbs this onion flower stalk is sold hot which are in preparing vegetable curries for increasing the taste. This bolted onion flower stalk also contributes to farmers' income and this also reduces the boundless to have credits during onion production.
The picture below: onion bolting at SAU experimental field, (my file IMG_8158 onion flower a)
The picture below: bolted onion seldom produces bulb (my file: IMG_8246 seed production c)
Increasing productivity through requisite input supply
Seed production
Among all the inputs, the seed is the one that the onion farmers think is the prime one. Both to promote and increase the productivity of onion, supply of enough good seeds to the farmers should get the principal responsibility of the respective authority. Haque (2011) reported that out of the total production cost of Tk 93517 per hectare, the cost of buying seeds/seedlings was 41% which was the major one followed by that incurred human labor cost (24%). To promote onion in more lands, there are no other alternatives without increasing the supply of good seeds. Onion seedlings are more prone to surrounding environmental conditions, especially soil moisture. Seedlings may be infected by many bacterial and fungal disease organisms which must be taken care of.
The picture below: Bolting of onion at SAU (my file: DSC_0301 onion plant SAU)
In Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) has the main mandate of both seed production and distribution which should be more capacitated in this respect. For seed production, the most favorable regions should be selected for onion seed production.
In Bangladesh, farmers start sowing seeds of early varieties of onion from mid-October to last after harvesting short-duration Transplanted Aman rice. This early onion is harvested starting from December which, although in controversy regarding the profits, helps stabilize the onion market price to some extent.
Like bulb production, the yield of onion seed is remarkably affected by on-time irrigation. In Bangladesh, the productivity of onion varies from 370 to 500 kg of seeds/ha (Hossain et al., 2017) leaving a wider scope to increase to make it comparable to those of the world onion seed production of 1,000-1,200 kg/ha.
The seed production programs should correlate with the varietal choice of the farmers. Along with the BARI-released varieties, the available local varieties (Taherpuri, Faridpuri, Shuk Sagar, Bahadur, Lalima, Ranga) should be evaluated in respect of productivity and pest resistance capability. In one of the studies, it was revealed that Taherpuri along with BARI Piaz-2 and BARI Piaz-3 was the primary choice. In another study some exotic cultivars such as Burma spindle have been observed to produce a maximum number of umbels and seeds; and also higher seed weight per plant followed by Taherpuri and Burma. However, these are just examples; the better choice of varieties should on the basis of the existing database of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) of the Bangladesh government. Three irrigations each at the vegetative, flowering, and seed formation stages have been suggested for successful onion production under an irrigation water shortage situation [Roy et al. 2014].
Besides timely irrigation, the most important other managements are fertilization, weeding, and pest control. Foliage breaking is also another problem as the flowering stalk of onion is very long that may face breakage due to the speedy airflow that is frequent in the seed formation stage in Bangladesh. Staking is the only way to prevent stalk breakage of onion seed crops (Pictures below). Staking should be made around the units of two to four rows at 65 days after planting using bamboo sticks and jute ropes to keep the flower stalk erect. Besides reducing the seed yield, breakage of the flower stalks also leads to a higher percentage of chaffy seeds.
The first picture of the two below shows seed production trials at SAU and the second one is from one of the seed production projects at Pirgonj of Bangladesh collected from Facebook and posted by Sadiq Shaon.
The picture below: Seed production trial at SAU
The picture below: Shows staking in the seed production field of a project at Pirgonj of Bangladesh collected from the Facebook post by Sadiq Shaon (my file: onion flower rope).
Improving productivity through providing on-time irrigation
Timely frequent irrigation of 3 cm per installment is good for achieving a high and quality bulb yield. It was reported that being shallow with numerous fibrous root systems, onion needs a continuous water supply up to the depth of 10 cm from the surface of the soil. Besides declining the bulb yield, drying and breakage of the bulb surface scale hampers the quality and market price of the bulbs. So, for profitable onion production enterprises, the irrigation schedule has been identified as one of the most important agronomic managements. Three irrigations each at the vegetative, flowering, and seed formation stages have been suggested for successful onion production under an irrigation water shortage situation [Roy et al. 2014].
Three irrigations each at the vegetative, flowering, and seed formation stages may be the optimum and feasible irrigation scheduling for onion seed production under an irrigation water shortage situation [Roy et al. 2014].
Improving productivity through fertilizer application
Onion has a profuse fibrous shallow root system and needs enough plant nutrients for good yields. The varieties available in Bangladesh can yield up to 13 tons per hectare having fertilized with (Haq et al. 2016) under the application per hectare of cow dung (5-10 t/ha), TSP (220 kg), MoP (150 kg) and gypsum. Excepting cow dung other chemical fertilizer supply in the Bangladesh market is uninterrupted and even government gives subsidies for some of the items to encourage farmers to crop production. Despite this continuous supply of chemical fertilizers in the market, the productivity varies from region to region. The inherent capacity of the soil along with other cultural management may be one of the many reasons. For example, the Pabna (of Pabna Upazilla) soil has greater potash supplying capacity than some other upazilas of Bangladesh () which may be one of the attributes of higher yield of onion in Pabna as the onion is a potash-responsive crop.
Improving productivity using improved varieties
Applying improved management along with a supply of enough inputs will not be profitable if the grown variety is well responsive to those managements. From the crop production practices two varieties were popular, Taherpuri and Burma long of which Taherpuri is still being used. BARI has developed some new and improved varieties which have to yield a potential of up to 13 tons/ha. BARI Piaz-1 and 4 have been released for production in winter, while BARI Piaz- 2, BARI Piaz-3, and BARI Piaz-5 can be grown in both winter and summer. These varieties take only 60-70 days while the winter crop takes 90 to 110 days except BARI Piaz-1 which matures in 130-140 days. Most of these varieties are more or fewer thrips and purple blotch resistant and if infested can be controlled by applying malathion and Bavistin/rovral/ridomil using proper doses at seven days intervals.
The picture below showing BARI Piaz-5 plants
While choosing varieties, it is important to select them considering the existing cropping pattern so that other component crops in the cropping pattern are not disturbed and the selected varieties well fit the pattern. As the onion faces competition with other winter crops such as wheat, maize, oilseeds, and pulses - attempts may be enforced to increase its acreage in summer when in most of the areas summer maize is sown at the later part of winter (February), especially in the north and green gram, especially in the south, might be the major ones among other competitor crops. So, to expand onion acreage, it is important to find the nitches to grow onions in summer on a large scale. However, for successful production, it would have no other alternatives to find more productive varieties having more rain and heat tolerance capabilities compared to the existing ones.
Improving productivity through Pest control
In the summer the infestation by purple blotch (picture below) is one of the main threats which may reduce yield by up to 25%. Selecting a well-drained soil and collecting seeds from the disease-free plants may help reduce the infestation of this pathogen. Some other pathogen such as downy mildew and black smut may attack the crop both in winter and summer. Spraying dithane M-45 at 10-20 days intervals may keep the crop safe. Further, following a regular crop rotation is a good cultural way to reduce pest infestation in onions. One prominent insect of onion is thrips that suck saps from the foliage and reduced bulb and seed yields. This can be controlled by spraying Malathion (or another short-duration insecticide) based on the scouting observations at different places when the infection becomes severe. The spray should be through coverage in the tissue as the thrips hide in the folded place of two adjacent leaves at the bases of the lamina. Overhead irrigation and rainfall reduce thrips infection. Cleaning stability in the onion fields also prevents the thrips infection. However, the sprayed onion should not be harvested or consumed at least 15 days later of the spray application.
The picture below showing purple blotch infestation in onion. source dreamtime.com (my file: Pic thrips)
The picture below: Showing an infested plot of onion. Source: dreamstime.com
The picture below: Downy-mildew + purple blotch infested onion plot causing foliage death. Source: canr.msu.edu
The average yield of onion in Bangladesh is far below 4 t ha [1 BBS, 2004] as compared to the world average of 17.45 t ha [FAO, 2004].
Among the fungi, Black mold rot (Aspergillus niger), Blue mold rot (Penicillium spp.), Fusarium bulb rot (Fusarium spp.), Basal rot (Fusarium moniliforme), Aspergillus rot (Aspergillus spp.), Dry rot (Macrophomina phasiolina), Soft rot (Erwinia spp.), Smudge (Colletotrichum circinans), Grey neck rot (Botrytis allii), Green mold rot (Penicillium spp.), White rot (Sclerotium cepivorum) and Anthracnose (Colletotrichum chardonianum) (Rangaswami and Mahadevan, 2004). Among these, black mold rot (A. niger) is more severe in storage. A. niger and A. flavus infect onions at high temperatures and high relative humidity. Whereas Penicillium spp. destroys onion at low temperatures. It is reported that the predominant fungal pathogens associated with the storage diseases of onions were Aspergillus sp., Penicillium sp., and Fusarium sp. (Velez et al., 2004, Raju and Nail, 2006).
The picture below: Onion neck rot. Source: onion neck rot gardening
Reducing loss maintaining and improving the bulb quality
In storage, the quality of onion depends on some factors among which selection of Variety, dose, and methods of fertilizer application, irrigation, drying onion in the field, storage condition, and storage structure are the prime ones. Using balanced fertilizer along with plenty of organic manure in the field increases the onion's storability. Although onions can tolerate a long period of drought, the water availability at the upper surface of the soil is critical for the good yield and quality of onions. Onions need high water requirement and the moisture supply during growth should be steady and uninterrupted, otherwise, dryness may cause the splitting of the outer scales of the onion. As the root system of onion is shallow, the water uptake is restricted to the top 10 inches of the soil, and three-centimeter irrigation per week is required to keep the well-moistened surrounding of the root system. Irrigation is to be stopped when the tops (foliage) mature start drying up and 60-85% neck has fallen down due to the breakage above the junction with the bulb.
After harvest the onion bulb is to be dried in the sun for 7-10 days (pic below) and the dried onion again needs a period of curing. This helps to seal the neck, prevent intrusion of pathogens, and as such reduce loss due to rots. Curing also helps to create bright crack-free skin.
The picture below: Onion drying in the field
The bulb size and quality of the onion will be as better as the bolting happens as much as later. Bolting can be delayed pre-harvest spraying Maleic hydrazide at the rate of 2000-2500 ppm just before the neck fall (Pic below). Sprouting, rotting and physiological loss in the storage reduces the weight loss of onion from 40-60%. So, there should be specialized storage so that the growers can store their product for a longer period to avoid post-harvest loss which could be reduced by 15% if it is equipped with a cooling facility.
The picture below: Shows onion neck fall, the symptom of onion maturity. Source: steemit
After harvesting and drying, the foliage should be removed carefully and the cuts should carefully be handled as it may allow pathogens to enter. In many instances and in many countries, immediately after harvest the 30-40 bulbs along with leaves are tied together at the neck point and hung from the ceiling for drying. This system is useful in the rainy harvest season when there is a lack of sunshine. This also reduces bulb bruising of the bulb avoiding rough handling, following the hanging method, the harvested onions can be stored for 45 days. In the hanging method, after drying or just after harvest if there is rain outside (in summer), 15-20 mature plants are tied together in a bunch by knots, and are hanged from the ceiling to avoid repeated hand touching that causes bruising on the surface which accelerate the entrance of pathogens and expose the bulbs to rot disease while in the storage (Hanging picture below).
The picture below: Onion bunch hanged for drying under a roof or in a house. Source: https://www.canstockphoto.com/onions-hanging-to-dry-15143763.html
The extent of onion rot can be reduced substantially through safe handling by the laborers while loading and unloading from shipment. At this transportation time, onion sacks and bulbs need to be carefully handled to minimize bruising as bruising hastens onion rots.
The storage structure and methods of storability affect the keeping duration of the onion. For short-day storage, bag storage is used which is the worst to store onions for a long time. However, nowadays perforated bags are used to transport for marketing onions which prevent onion rot for some days. If with ventilation facility, the storage becomes the best.
Specialized storage such as ventilated bamboo structure made 30-60 cm above the soil reduce onion rot to a certain extent. ‘Vengaya pattarai’ structure is made with a neem wooden flatform surrounding hand-woven jute gunny bags and then covering the whole structure by the thatched roof of coconut leaves or any dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge, rushes, heather, or palm branches. Such type of roof also helps for insulation of the storage. There is another improved structure for the storage of onions called the ‘Chawl’ equipped with bottom and central ventilation. This storage is made 60 cm above the ground at 1.5-2 m height wherein onion can be stored for five months. Before storing, the storage structure should be sprayed with fungicides such as 10 g Bavistin + 15 ml neuron in 10 L water. This will keep onions protected from various pests (indiaagronet.com).
Onion can also be stored for 90 days in ‘Tat’ storage structure which is made on a brick base with a ventilation facility. In the case method with plenty of ventilation facility, the bulbs can be stored for 90 days leading to lesser spoilage and also reducing sprouting up to 40%. There is another pucca-floor-based storage called ‘room storage’ having dry sands on the floor base wherein onion can be stored for 150 days. Wire mesh shed is better than room storage. In Sudan, mud or straw roof on the storage is used with proper ventilation wherein onion is stored for 50 days. When outside, the storage platform maybe 30 cm above the ground made of either cemented or bamboo made. The bamboo-made floor helps with ventilation. The storage roof may be made of thatched straw, sugarcane trash, or asbestos sheet to keep the temperature down to avoid from exposure to direct sunshine and rain.
‘Modified ventilated structure is equipped with forced ventilation facility wherein onion can safely store for up to 8 months. In the bottom ventilation structure, onion can be stored for up to 150 days of which two tire system is better than a bamboo structure. The most improved structure is controlled structure or atmospheric storage wherein the surrounding carbon dioxide, oxygen, and temperature are controlled (5% CO2 + 3% O2 + temperature below 5 degrees). In this storage, onion can be stored for up to 7 months. In such storage, elevated CO2 concentrations plus reduced O2 concentration help the onion to prevent rots. Specialized cold storage can help reduce post-harvest loss by 10 to 15 percent.
Lowering the consumption
Onion is not treated as a food item in Bangladesh by consumers. It is mainly used to increase the taste of curries. For maintaining the health of the human body it is not even required to eat onion regularly. So, in a crisis time when the supply of onion in the market becomes limited and its price gets hiked, some of the amounts of it may be reduced. The execution of this attitude will surely depend on the food habit of the consumers.
Upon this attitude, there were so many posts on Facebook and also in other mass media suggesting using less onion in their curries or even preparing food without onion along with giving so many tips about how to make foods tasty without adding the onion. Even the Bangladeshi Prime minister ordered her cooks not to add onions while preparing food for her and also advised people just to avoid onions so that the market price declines for declining the demand for onions in the market.
Stabilizing the onion market through finding alternative ways
Finding alternative crops or ways of cultivation
Onion is added to the curries to make those tasty and under the severe deficit of it some alternative recipes have also been suggested. Among that ' chive’ was the first choice which resembles onion plants (picture below) and has also a pungent taste like onion.
The picture below: Experimental plots with chives (Chinese garlic) posted on Facebook.
The picture below: Onion/garlic-like plants chives (Chinese garlic) posted on Facebook.
Cultivation in bottles
Rabi Sankar posted on facebook from France describing the method of onion cultivation in five-liter water of oil plastic bottles making 40-50 holes of 10 cm dia. The bottle is then filled with organic soil and transplanting onion seedlings each in a hole. The weekly irrigation is 500 ml.
The bottles can be kept on balconies or hanging from poles in fallow lands or roofs. Assuming the weight of a single onion bulb to be as five grams, 200 grams of onion can be harvested from each bottle per two months. For a person, ten bottles will be required and for a five-member family, fifty bottles will supply full onion needs. Such an approach should not be neglected but is not impossible to grow onions in fifty bottles if those could be set on the roof tops or in the open space of a fallen courtyard and taken care of on regular basis.
The picture below: Onion cultivation in bottles: source: Facebook.
Growing aerial onion on the leaves
When the import of onion has been going on, one enthusiast published shared the following picture on Facebook saying that it was an Egyptian onion variety produced by aerial onion at the top of the inflorescence stalk. If such a variety can be developed at least an avenue will be open to using these aerial onion bulbs along with the inflorescence stalk in the crisis period before the full maturation of the underground bulb and in this situation the possibility of having both aerial and underground bulbs from the same plant will be created.
The picture below: Onion with aerial bulbs. Source: Facebook
Avoiding Socio-political chaos and conserving consumer’s/farmer’s interests
Besides increasing the supply of onion in the market by increasing the acreage and productivity, among other most important tasks of the government is to monitor market at least three months ahead of appearing social chaos, be vigilant against mass illegal storage by businessmen from September to December and market interventions during the chaos.
Increasing commodity prices at pick may cause in the market on consumers interest issue which the government gives the most emphasis on to avoid political turmoil. Such happens not only in Bangladesh but also there is evidence of the country on unrest by the opposition who takes the advantage of price hikes in the commodity market.
The onion crisis or price inflation of onion in the country has been the cause of changing the government. In India, Indira Gandhi came into power in 1980 citing anarchy centering onion market prices which hiked above the purchaser’s capability level. In the same country, such a situation again became an issue in the 1998 election and also again in 2010 that has created political chaos. The skyrocketing price hike of the onion in Bangladesh has been a matter of debate in the parliament as the consequence of public discontent saying that the onion price had climbed to an eye-watering level and most of the parliamentarians blamed the businessmen who made groin stock to make an artificial crisis in the onion market. The conundrum with the onion price hike also sparked the anger of the consumers in some places although there was an opinion saying that this price rise should be taken as an intensive to the farmers as it would encourage them to produce more for achieving more profit. At the time when onion was the reason for eye tearing to the consumers, the price of some agricultural commodities in the market along with rice dropped at the bottom causing a great loss to the farmers, politics were also in favor of increasing the price rise. However, this price rise happened at a time when farmers did not have this product in their homes
There another social problem arises when the market price increases abnormally and that is onion being theft at night which causes serious shock to the farmers (picture below). However, this type of theft is not so acute in Bangladesh.
The picture below: A farmer mourning for his stolen onion from the field. Source: Bangladesh Today.
Planning and management scopes
The first approach is to increase the per-hectare productivity of this crop using good varieties so that using the same acreage we can produce more by reducing the yield gaps that exist among different onion growing areas.
The second attempt might be to find out the niches for increasing the acreage of onions not disturbing the lands occupied by other important crops especially those like onions we have to import from other countries using our foreign currency.
The third approach is to carry on research so as to grow onions either in intercrop with any other main crops or relaying other crops with the onion so that the existing patterns are not disturbed.
The fourth point to consider is giving emphasis on increasing the productivity of the existing onion varieties and developing more responsive varieties for agronomic management. Taking in mind the facts of natural hazards, climate change, and the time of the deficit of onion in the market, varieties are to be developed. In this context rain and heat-tolerant varieties are to be given the emphasis so that onion cultivation can be more expanded in summer as in the rabi season accommodation of onion would be more difficult as many other important crops are to be grown in this season. One of the main problems in the expansion of onion cultivation is the lack of seeds both in the winter and summer, especially in summer. An uninterrupted supply of onion seeds and other inputs can increase the current productivity () to a satisfactory one (). Besides increasing research facilities, farmers should have access to institutional and or infrastructural supports such as bank loans at a low-interest rate, production inputs, machinery, nearby market, and consultation agent for taking advice. To assure the farmer’s fare price, the open market policy may be intervened for a while depending on the situation.
Research activities are also to be enforced on increasing the keeping duration of the onion to avoid post-harvest loss due to rot both on transport and storage. In this context, the existing storage techniques are to be evaluated and altered to make them suitable for Bangladesh’s climatic and socioeconomic conditions farmers.
Some loss may occur while harvesting and post-harvesting processing of onion. So, the harvest should be handled very carefully. For this, farmers are to be trained to adopt appropriate programs, especially in the major onion-growing areas.
Substantial loss due to rot, drying, and sprouting at the transient storage and transportation and marketing are reported. This can be reduced by taking good management practices such as proving the crop with balanced fertilization, weekly irrigation, and spraying proper insecticides, fungicides, and Maleic hydrazide to increase both the yield and keeping quality of the onion bulbs. However, above all environmental pollution and public health situation have also to be considered while applying pesticides.
The picture below: Over drying and sprouting of the onion bulb. Source: dreamstime.com (my file: onion drying and sprouting dry)
High labor cost is an added extra item in onion production. Due to the developmental activities agricultural laborers are very expensive which boosts per unit product costs. The only alternative lies in using mechanized techniques especially seedling transplanting, weeding, and harvesting which incurs the major cost items. Even intercropping or relay cropping has not been adopted extensively due to the lack of machinery which not only to be imported but also made suitable to keep pace with Bangladesh’s socioeconomic, soil, and climatic condition.
The deficit of onion is generally met by importing onion from abroad and on this matter, we should be more careful as this subject is very sensitive regarding its import time, supply time in the market, and outlet positions for sale. To avoid public chaos, the relevant parties or government should be vigilant in monitoring the existing storage status of the onion in advance of its imports, distribution, and marketing system along with its price. Normally onion crisis starts in the month of September and goes on more or less up to the full harvest of new crops in the month of April. The early harvest of onion is done in the month of December which supply onion in the market on a limited scale. But it exerts a negative impact on the total onion production as the early harvest onion bulbs remain immature weighing much lesser compared to the fully matured ones. This early harvest caused a much reduction in national production. So import and management should be optimized based on this situation. Another fact is while importing onion from abroad should be carefully attended especially the quality of the bulbs based on the duration. During this recent crisis, it was seen that onions imported from Myanmar rot or sprouted even while in the sacks (picture below) which caused severe weight loss that bounded the businessmen to increase the market price to compensate the loss.
The picture below: Sprouting of the imported onion from Myanmar in the sack. Source: Facebook.
It is admissible by all that our farmers are skilled and grow much even exceeding the target of the government for most of the cases with all the crops. In this context, there must be enough storage facilities so as to they can keep their products safe. To do this, scientific storage systems with minimum cost can be innovated by doing research. Bangladeshi farmers do not afford to store their products for a long time as they grow crops either by borrowing money from the government or local rich people. So, for paying the borrowed money they become bound to sell their crop at the existing price that they have in the local market. Moreover, they do not have the capacity to carry those to another big market because of expensive transportation systems where they could find a better market at a higher price. Further, as a buffer, the government is to increase both the capacity and number of its current regional storage. For this private partnership program may be enforced to encourage entrepreneurship so that farmers themselves can use these on a rent basis.
Although not a dilemma but a dishonest motive of the businessmen exists in our country that they import agricultural commodities and supply those in the market at the time when farmers are going to harvest their crops. As a result, due to the supply of businessmen’s products as well as those of the farmers' harvest, the supply of the products in the market becomes much as needed by the consumers. This causes to push the market price to the bottom. However, farmers grow their produce using credits from a person or private financial organization at a higher interest, and the condition of receiving the credits is to repay this credit just after harvest. So in consequence, farmers become bound to sell their produce at the low market price which is even much lesser compared to their production costs. Such a situation was observed in some past year’s onion seasons when due to favorable weather conditions, farmers of Bangladesh got bumper yields but low market prices suffered them much incurring a great loss.
Even after the ongoing crisis of onions in Bangladesh, the Indian government lifted its ban on onion export at the extreme end of February 2020 when the farmers of both countries are harvesting their new crops. India declared this so as to avoid the loss of its onion farmers as the farmers have had a bumper production this year. This ‘export ban lifting’ encouraged Bangladeshi businessmen to import onion from India to add to those of the inland farmer's products in the market. Even in Bangladesh, farmers are also harvesting onions from their fields and already there have been reports by the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh that the onion farmers are going to face a drastic decline in the onion market (The Daily Star, March 01, 2020; the picture below).
Taking the advantage of low price and poor sale, a wholesaler makes a good stock at his warehouse in the market to sell it at higher rates later. In Bangladesh 90 percent of the small and medium growers sell their produce during the peak harvesting season at low prices (Daily Star, May 6, 2013; Nov 25, 2019). During the 2018 onion season farmers had to sell their produce for taka 15-18 a kilogram which was much below the production costs of Taka 22-24 (Daily Star Nov 25, 2019). This only be controlled by monitoring the import time if the products that may coincide or overlap with the time of harvest season of the farmers' product. In Bangladesh, farmers are the weak professional group who has no active organization to fight for achieving their rights themselves. Even to avoid such price hikes or public dissatisfaction with agricultural commodities, the balance, and coordination of the relevant organizations or parties become very helpful.
The low price during onion harvest time when the farmers suffer most with a drastic loss may be avoided by giving farmers easy credits so that they can store their harvest at least for two months in their own storage. This will also help the government to solve the lack of enough structured storage facilities that in turn help stabilize the onion market.
To avoid crisis of import, especially like the ones of the refusal to export by India, the deal should also be made by different onion exporting countries. The government of Bangladesh took initiatives to import onion on an emergency basis during this year’s onion crisis from some other countries besides India such as Myanmar, Egypt, Turkey, China, etc. The initiative may be taken to make deals with these countries exploring some extra countries for import so that Bangladesh can assure its import onion in advance of appearing the deficit in the market. To avoid loss of the farmers, the coordination of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Commerce discourage imports of crops during harvesting seasons slapping import duty in a way that makes foreign purchases expensive and farmers get more prices of their produce.
In Bangladesh government has introduced incentives for farmers in terms of subsidies in input price, credit at low-interest rates, and also buying farmers’ produce at a higher price to confirm minimum support price. However, those are not enough in relation to the farmers’ number and these matters need to be attended to solve such an unexpected situation. To stabilize the market the authority may take necessary attempts to maintain price volatility, and sub-optimal competition in the onion market.
To assure both consumers’ and farmers’ interests besides giving logistic support to farmers, the government must control its import including time-to-time changes of import duties so that farmers’ and consumers’ interests may not be hampered. The government may also fix produce prices based on the cost of production and execute this to monitor the market and fix or alter import duties to control the market price. While importing onion, the bulb quality especially importing immature bulbs dries up reducing the bulb weight along with undertaking rapid rot. Sometimes such happens that imported onion underwent a great loss due to rot owing to the delay in clearance from inland ports. The resultant effect is on the market price which the businessmen have to rise to compensate for their delay-based losses.
Again, to assure the increased supply of onion in the market and to guarantee onion self-sufficiency in Bangladesh, farmers must be encouraged to grow it giving them on-time input supply and assuring its fair market price during the harvest time.
Requested to make comments and suggest improvement
References
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