Onions are among the most essential vegetables in households across the nation. The bulk of it is used in the commercial sector in eateries, restaurants and hotels, and Sindh contributes a major chunk of the country’s onion production.

However, like the recent banana crop, Sindh’s onions have also been struggling against a disease for the last few years, leading their producers to shift to other crops to avoid losses and putting a question mark on Sindh’s agricultural research bodies’ performance and their inability to arrest the decline in the two crops.

The Economic Survey of Pakistan FY25 recorded Pakistan’s onion production at 2.67 million tonnes, down from 2.3m tonnes in FY24. The drop in production is attributed to reduced acreage and to onions in Sindh, where they are struggling against a disease.

The Sindh agriculture research department’s analysis has also noted a marked decline in onion production, ie 153116 acres in FY22 and 4118252 acres in FY23. Production-wise, Sindh produced 837,473 tonnes in FY22 and 646,846 tonnes in FY23.

After devastating losses in the recent banana harvest, onions become the second major crop in the country to succumb to disease, raising prices and disrupting agricultural productivity

DG Agriculture Research Sindh, Dr Mazhar Keerio, describes the disease as a ‘twist’ which has affected the crop since the virus was soil-borne. He believed the problem was caused by massive flooding in the Matiari district, where the crop lost significant acreage and drainage problems further aggravated soil conditions.

“We are not unmindful of the problem and are also working with the private sector to control it. We have collaborated with the private sector, which has procured, in the last couple of years, a variety from Thailand — BJS-360 — for a trial basis to see if it resists the disease. The variety was grown in Tando Allahyar and has given encouraging results so far,” Dr Keerio said.

Moreover, Dr Keerio proposed integrated management approaches that include removing infected plants, improving air circulation, avoiding excessive nitrogen, maintaining optimal temperature, crop rotation, soil preparation with the added use of organic matter, and balancing nutrient levels.

A simple look at the figures of the research department shows that Matiari has lost almost half of its onion acreage between FY22 and FY23. An area of 18918 acres was brought under onion cultivation in FY22, and in FY23 it shrank to 8208.346562 acres due to the disease.

Besides other major crops, Haji Nadeem Shah, a seasoned onion grower from Matiari, has been through a difficult phase managing his onion crop, which he used to cultivate on a massive scale. “I started reducing the area under onion cultivation when I wasn’t able to handle the problem at my farm. All sorts of medicines were applied, but the desired results keep eluding me,” he observed.

Mr Shah remembered having cultivated onions on 150 acres — a huge acreage for a smaller crop indeed — which he has now reduced to just seven acres, gradually shrinking the area to 100 acres, 50 acres, and finally to single-digit onion acreage.

According to his experience, the root rots first, then the bulb, and finally the stem. “This year the stems faced the rot first,” he noted and said he had used around nine fungicides to control the disease, but was unsuccessful.

He also shared his problem with national research bodies such as the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council and the National Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, as well as Sindh-based research bodies, including the onion-specific Hyderabad-based Onion Research Institute, but his efforts were in vain.

Nawab Zubair Talpur, President of the Sindh Abadgar Ittehad (SAI), agrees with Nadeem. He mentioned that he, too, lost his 60-acre onion crop in Umerkot and Tando Mohammad Khan. His observation was that the disease affects the crop overnight. “It was perfectly fine when I saw it at the farm in the evening, and the next day it was devoured by disease,” he recalled.

Sindh’s nasarpuri and phalkara were famous onion varieties and were widely grown in areas such as Matiari, Tando Allahyar, Dadu, Jamshoro, Thana Bula Khan, Umerkot, Naushahro Feroz, Shaheed Benazirabad, Jacobabad, Tando Mohammad Khan, Thatta, Larkana, and Sanghar.

Onion was also used for intercropping along with sugarcane, a major cash crop. Its intercropping reduced farmers’ economic costs for land management, fertilisation, irrigation water supply, etc. This was beneficial for farmers as it increased their earnings.

Onion is grown year-round, with peak production from November to December. But over the last few years, supplies have become limited, creating space for imports and, at times, leading to a price spiral. These imports were mostly seen from Iran and Afghanistan — though currently, supplies from Afghanistan are blocked.

Lately, prices of onion crops have doubled, from Rs110-Rs120 per kg to Rs220 per kg last month. “The market has shown some signs of stability in November, with wholesale prices dropping to Rs90 per kg from Rs125 per kg as domestic supplies have improved now. Initially, we had supplies from Iran, but these have stopped now. Hopefully, this falling price trend will remain intact in the days to come,” hoped Imtiaz Hussain, President of the Pakistan Agriculture and Horticulture Forum.

Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) President Mahmood Nawaz Shah pointed out that loss of acreage is quite evident in Sindh, and the issue had been brought to the notice of Sindh’s research organisations, but unfortunately, there has been no success in containing the disease, resulting in major onion growers losing interest in the crop.

Onion used to be a Rabi crop, but farmers started growing it in the early Rabi season and later shifted its cultivation to the May-June period. According to his observation, it was in fact extreme weather patterns that were affecting the crop, but this was again for the researchers to develop substantive, research-based findings/evidence to guide farmers on how to respond and what precautions were required.

With banana — a major cash crop losing ground fast in lower Sindh’s Tando Allahyar and Mirpurkhas districts after Thatta, and onion being a staple kitchen item for millions and facing the same fate, agriculture research organisations need to pull their socks up to rescue farmers.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, November 17th, 2025