From the half kg onions planted inside a bottle, a yield of upto 5 kgs can be harvested, he said, adding that half a maund of onion can be harvested from a single bottle in one year. “You can easily grow onions on your roof or inside the house using this method. Besides, you can carry bottles anywhere you like without much effort.”
Onions grow faster in this method than that sown in fields, Ataur said, adding that the best thing about cultivating onions in a bottle is that it can be farmed throughout the year.
Ataur expressed firm belief that the onion crisis in Bangladesh can be overcome through large scale farming of the bulb using this method.
Md Jahangir Alam, upazila agriculture officer of Tentulia, said one can cultivate onion in any place, including veranda and courtyard, inside a bottle.
Mentioning that one can grow onions in unused bottles with less cost and effort, he said other farmers are being inspired to follow this innovative method here.
A Panchagarh farmer being innovative amid onion crisis
Photo:UNB
When the onion price hit the roof with each kg being sold at Tk 250, a farmer in Tentulia upazila came up with an innovative idea of cultivating the bulb in bottles that can be harvested round the year.
“Initially, I began cultivating onions in a single bottle on an experimental basis. Without spending a lot…I got good yields in just a few days and then I decided to grow onions in more bottles throughout the year at my home,” said the farmer, Ataur Rahman, hailing from Dangapara village.
He said he has taken all the preparations to grow onions in 10-15 bottles.
This method of cultivation is quite simple and inexpensive as explained by Ataur Rahman himself.
One has to cut off the neck of the bottle, punch some holes around the bottle, position the bulbs with the sprouts by the holes so they grow out neatly. Then one has to layer on the soil and sprouts until the bottle is full, water it and give it some light.
In barely a week, green leaves will start coming out through the small holes and after three months, fully-grown onions can be removed from a bottle.
According to Ataur Rahman, at least half a kg of onion can be planted inside a plastic bottle with a 2.5-litre capacity. Maximum 50 onions can be sown in one bottle.