Onion growers in tears as prices plunge in market

Onion growers in tears as prices plunge in market
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Highlights

Right from cultivation to selling the produce in markets, onion farmers are going through a lot of problems The slump in prices and the subsequent lower remunerations for farmers in the past few weeks have been leading to outbursts and protests where farmers have been throwing tonnes of onions on roadsThe price of onions has dropped to Rs 10 per kg, whereas they were being sold at Rs 40 to 50 pe

Tandur: Right from cultivation to selling the produce in markets, onion farmers are going through a lot of problems. The slump in prices and the subsequent lower remunerations for farmers in the past few weeks have been leading to outbursts and protests where farmers have been throwing tonnes of onions on roads.The price of onions has dropped to Rs 10 per kg, whereas they were being sold at Rs 40 to 50 per kg in the previous year.

Even the prices of beats have dropped drastically to Rs 500 to 600 per quintal. The farmers of Ainelli, Mittabasupalli, Gunthabasupalli, Kotabasupalli, Sankireddypalli Thanda, Uddandapur and Malkapur villages cultivated almost 2,000 acres of crop in Rabi season. They lament that they are not getting enough price for their produce in the market.The farmers blame the government and its policies on the procurement and exports of their produce.

They expressed their anger over the non-availability of cold storages. Earlier, horticulture department convened a state-level conference to enhance the yield of onions on August 14, 2015, in Indira Priyadarshini Auditorium at Nampalli. The farmers from Tandur Mandal participated in the conference.P Narayanareddy, a farmer from Kotabasupalli, got the opportunity to speak at the conference. He said that the farmers of his area were cultivating onion crop in almost 2,000 acres every year and buying them in Malakpet market.

He expressed his dissatisfaction over unavailability of cold storages and sought the government to construct storages. Later, the government gave assurance in this regard. But nothing has been done till date. The farmers are reeling under despair with no minimum support price and with no cold storages.

Shaik Ismail, an onion farmer from Mittabasupalli, said that they are spending about Rs 20,000 on transport to send their produce to markets. Because of the low prices, they are not even getting invested money. Farmers urge the government to address their problems as soon as possible to bail out the farmers from their plight.

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