Socio-Demographic Status of Onion Cultivators and Major Correlates of Onion Production: A Study from Pabna, Bangladesh

Bangladeshis an agro-based country. The country is endowed with many natural resources, including a variety of temperate zones and vast amount of productive land, making onion production avery promising industry for cultivation, marketing, processing, and export. This country is rich in natural resources and its weather is excellent for onion cultivation. Throughout the world, onion (Allium cepa) is a significant herbaceous bulb and spice crop, including Bangladesh. Onion is a major cash crop of Bangladesh and it is largely cultivated in Bangladesh [4]. It is a spice crop that is used as a spice in our food and salad. It also acts as medicine for many diseases since it contains calcium, carbohydrates, protein, vitamin C and E. In Bangladesh, we use onion everyday and cannot think a day without onion.

Livelihoods of many people in the village are mainly based on onion, some are involved in onion cultivation and others are involved in onion trading which is profitable inmost cases. Onion is produced in all area of Bangladesh and largely cultivated in profitable scale in the greater districts of Rajshahi, Dhaka, Faridpur, Dinajpur, Jessore, Pabna, Rangpur and Kushtia. Bapari et al. [5] conducted a study on onion production in Sujanagar and Santhia upazila of Pabna. They found that onion production is profitable and they found a profit of Tk. 26883.48 per bigha, though they found some problems in onion production like lack of storage facilities, limited access to quality seeds etc. Anjum and Barmon [2] explored a study on profitability and comparative advantage of onion in two districts named Jhenaidah and Kushtia. They also found that onion production is profitable in both districts with a BCR of 2.02 in Kushtia and 1.83 in Jhenaidah. Haque et al [8] directed a study in Magura Faridpur and Rajshahi and observed that onion is a highly profitable crop with a BCR of 1.85 and the profitability from onion is higher than the profit from other crops like cabbage, mustard, and groundnuts. Islan et al.[12] observed a study by categorizing farmers as small, medium, and large based on farm size and found that onion production was profitable for all farmers with an overall undiscounted BCR of 1.74. Islam et al.[11] conducted a study to analyze the value chain of onion and found onion production as profitable where a BCR of 1.55 was found. They also found that farmers add the highest value of 29.14% in the supply chain and receive the highest net marketing margin of 42.51%. Mila et al. [13] explored a study to show the onion supply chain and find out barriers faced by stakeholders before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. They found that onion production is viable with a BCR of 1.19.

According to BBS (2024) 2917 (000 M. tons) onion was produced in 514 (000 acres) area in Bangladesh in 2023-24 fiscal year which was 2547 (000 M. tons) in 503 (000 acres) justin immediate past fiscal year. Hossain, Abdullah and Parvez [10] did a time series analysis of onion production in Bangladesh using ARIMA (0,2,1) model and the model forecasted a steady increase in onion production from 2014 to 2023, from 1.24 million metric tons to 1.88 million metric tons. While onion output is growing daily, in a land-starved nation like Bangladesh, high population growth may make it impossible to offer local demand. There is a huge lack of onion compared to the total demand. As there island constraint, it is not possible to increase the area under cultivation in order to enhance onion production; however, there is a chance to do so by improving current production methods and adopting advanced technology. Baree [6] conducted a study on technical efficiency of onion in Santhia upazila of Pabna district and showed that the yield of onions per hectare will increase by 0.0718 percent, 0.3026 percent, and 0.0442 percent, respectively, if the labor force, land areas, and capital costs are all increased by 1%. They found mean technical efficiency 83% which indicates that, with the present level of material and technology, onion farmers are producing 17% less output than the maximum possible. But, at the same time, he found that as the education of farmers rises the effect of technological inefficiency grows because most of the educated farmers not only depend on agriculture for their livelihood but also have other income sources. Hossain et al. [9] observed that Bangladesh annually produces 1.7 million tonnes of onions, yet the demand stands at 2.2 million tonnes, highlighting a considerable shortfall between production and consumption. Bangladesh depends on onion imports from neighboring countries (i.e., India, Myanmar) to meet its domestic demand as proposed by Ahmed and team [3]. This trade dependency significantly rinsings the country'sforeign currency reserves, emphasizing the urgent need to enhance domestic onion production and reduce import reliance [1]. Pabna is well-known for onion production. Among the 64 districts of Bangladesh, highest amount of onion is produced in Pabna. Bapari et al. [5] did a study on onion production in Sujanagar and Santhia upazila of Pabna and Baree [6] conducted a study only in Santhia upazila. Again, Islan et al. [12] conducted a study in Durgapur, Sadarpur, Sujanagar of Bangladesh and Haque et al.[8] directed a study in Magura Faridpur and Rajshahi about onion production. But there is no study solely in Sujanagar of Pabna. It has been passed so many years since there is no study in Sujanagar. So, our concern is about Sujanagar upazila. This study will help people to know about the socio-demographic status of onion cultivators and interrelation among various variables of onion production in Sujanagar upazila of Pabna district. The main objectives of the study are: 1) To show the socio-demographic status of onion farmers in Sujanagar upazila of Pabna; 2) To determine the interplay between seed cost and output, age and involved year of farmers in onion farming and output and after harvesting cost.