Govt to give Tk16.20cr incentive to increase summer onion production

The government will give an incentive of Tk16.20 crore to increase the cultivation and production of summer onion. 

"A total of 18,000 farmers of 19 districts will get free seeds and fertilisers under this incentive. Under this incentive, each farmer will get one kg of seeds, and 20 kgs of DAP and 20 kgs of MOP fertilisers at free of cost for cultivating onion on one bigha of land," said an Agriculture Ministry press release today. 

This incentive will be given from the regular budget of Agriculture Ministry for agricultural support and rehabilitation sector, the release said, adding that a government order was issued in this regard today.

During the peak onion season, the country produces sufficient amount of onions, but due to lack of preservation technology, a large amount of onions are wasted, resulting onions have to be imported to meet the demand, it said. 

Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture has been implementing a roadmap for the last two years to reduce the dependency on import of onion, the release said, adding, as a result, the production of summer onion has increased to 39,800 tonnes this year, which was only 300 tons two years back.

Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque recently said that the government is giving importance on cultivating onion in off season or summer onion.

"If we can make this summer onion cultivation popular, we could achieve not only self-sufficiency in onion production, but also export abroad," he added.