Untimely rain delaying onion harvest in Faridpur

The untimely rain which hit many parts of the country over the last three days since Thursday is delaying the harvest of locally-grown onion in Faridpur region.Farmers are now waiting for onion fields to dry up to have their harvests.
The rain has made the soil muddy which will delay the harvest of the local variety of onion in the region by 4-6 days, said Kartik Chandra Chakrabarty, deputy director of the Faridpur office of the Department of Agricultural Extension.
Farmers will be able to harvest onion within few days, he said, adding that some farmers have, however, already started harvesting onions in the wet condition.
Onion farmer Subid Mollah told UNB that he was supposed to harvest onions from his field at this time but the rain has delayed it. “I’ll have to wait for a few days more to have the harvest.”
Meanwhile, the delay in the harvest pushed up the onion price at Tk 140-160 per kg at wholesale market on Saturday.
However, it decreased to Tk 110-120 per kg on Sunday after the sun appeared in the sky.
Visiting different markets on Sunday, it was found that the bulb was selling at Tk Tk 130-150 per kg at the retail level.
Sanjoy Saha, an onion trader at Hazi Sharitullah Bazar, said the onion price came down slightly on Sunday. “I sold per maund onion at Tk 3,600-4,000 in the morning,” he said, adding that farmers have started bringing onions to market in small quantity after the untimely rain, he added, reports UNB from Faridpur.
Md Jashim Molla, an onion buyer, said he came to purchase two kgs onion but had to buy half kg as the price was high.