Noor Ahmed Marri, a small onion producer, has given up onion cultivation for the past few years. He no longer finds onion sowing viable due to production losses and has replaced his onion acreage with banana cultivation in Sindh’s Tandojam area. While he owns 25 acres of land, his family members collectively used to grow onions on over 100 acres. This is no longer the case, as they too have switched to bananas.
Onion growers like Mr Marri, who had been producing the vegetable religiously, have now lost interest altogether in its cultivation. They have increasingly felt discouraged by economic and production losses, largely driven by disease. Syed Nadeem Shah, a seasoned onion grower, shares a similar account of avoiding onion cultivation. They were unable to salvage their crop despite applying different methods in back-to-back years.
This calls into question the role and performance of agricultural research bodies. Hyderabad district has an onion-specific research body, but its performance has been a guessing game.
In Nasirabad, Balochistan, Saleem Bahrani felt comfortable with onion sowing and was getting reasonable returns. Although he noticed a decline in yields, which he attributed to weather conditions, he has no plans to discontinue sowing onions.
Disease, production losses and inadequate research support are pushing farmers in Sindh away from a crop once widely cultivated in the province
Researchers like Khalid Iqbal Rajput termed it a soil-borne fungus affecting theops in Sindh. “Samples of affected crops were sent to various research bodies in Pakistan, including Ayub Agricultural Research Institute Faisalabad, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Sindh Agriculture Research University Tandojam and Karachi University for findings. It has been confirmed that it was Fusarium. Growers, however, believed that they were not being supported on how to eventually cure the disease and produce quality crops.”
Sindh is the largest onion-producing province of Pakistan, followed by Balochistan. Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also contribute to nationwide onion production. After potato, onion is Pakistan’s second major vegetable, with annual consumption of around 1.8 million tons, and is considered an essential ingredient in household cooking.
Onion crops reach the market around the year as fresh supplies, starting from Balochistan around September, followed by Sindh around November, and then Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Nasarpuri and Phulkara remained the commonly grown varieties. As a perishable commodity, onions are usually not stored. Like paddy, its nurseries are prepared about 30-40 days before transplantation into farmland.
According to Mr Marri, cultivating an acre of onions requires around Rs125,000-150,000, because the seeds are expensive. “In 2022, our family incurred a loss of Rs15m. Still, I tried to apply different medicines but in vain,” said Mr Marri. Ever since his crop was hit by a disease that twists the plant and eventually causes it to die, he has opted to avoid onion cultivation, having received no support from any research body or the agriculture department.
Mahmood Nawaz Shah, president of the Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB), pointed out that farmers feel helpless about onions. “Onion is a 120-day crop and is grown along sugarcane. Sugarcane requires a full year before it is ready for harvest. Many onion producers have acquired expertise in sugarcane-onion intercropping, but unending disease-driven production losses in onion have left it unviable for them,” he explained.
By the time sugarcane starts growing, onion has already been harvested; otherwise, sugarcane could easily suppress onion in the field. Growers have acquired expertise in this intercropping.
The Economic Survey of Pakistan 2025-26 also reported the losses, stating its production declined by 2.2pc.
“We only benefit from onion exports if India’s crop is delayed or affected by weather conditions,” said Shaikh Imtiaz, an onion exporter. He said Malaysia, Sri Lanka and the Middle East receive Pakistani onion exports. However, export surplus is achievable only through value addition, since lower retail market prices and smaller profit margins do not sit well with onion producers.
The Planning Commission of Pakistan published an “Onion Cluster Feasibility and Transformation Study” in February 2020 to develop a cluster-based transformation plan grounded in regional realities across the entire value chain, including production, processing, value addition, and marketing. The study identified gaps and issues, discussed improved practices and value addition in onion production, and provided a roadmap to overcome deficiencies, increase per-acre yields, and boost exports.
According to the study, onion was grown on 136,000ha with production of 1.74m tons until 2016, after which production varied between 1.8m and 2.2m tons. Pakistan’s national onion acreage was around 168,000ha at the time of the study. Sindh accounted for around 38pc of the area and 44pc of nationwide production, followed by Balochistan with a 21pc share of the area and 33pc of production.
Globally, onions are cultivated on about 5.2m ha with production of 9.8m tons, giving an average yield of 19m tons per ha. The study noted that Pakistan is far behind global averages in per-hectare yield, exportability, and the establishment of value chains.
Despite a favourable environment for onion production, Pakistan achieves only 71pc of the world average yield and exports roughly 2.5pc of its production compared with the world average of 7.5pc, the study said.
However, it considered the cultivation of onions alongside wheat, mustard, sugarcane, and other vegetables not favourable as it could lead to diseases.
The study said onion crops faced post-harvest losses of up to 30pc, which could be reduced to 20pc through proper storage, improved farm management and better post-harvest practices. Onion could also be processed into different value-added products such as dried onion flakes and powder.
Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, August 10th, 2026
