Onion set prices have doubled in Bangladesh, dashing the hopes of the inflation-hit people for an immediate reduction in the prices of the key cooking vegetable through the cultivation of early winter varieties.

The cultivation of a variety of onion, known as Kondo in Bangladesh, has been delayed due to excessive rain early this month, when farmers plant seedlings of the crop before harvesting it in early winter

Farmers and agriculturists expect production of more than 9.67 lakh tonnes of onion from 79,985 hectares of land in the region including its vast Barind tract during the current rabi season.