Farmers in tears as onion prices plunge

Mahabubnagar: Onion growers in the Palamuru region are facing a tough time as the prices of onions have steeply fallen. The crop is grown largely in Gadwal, Mahabubnagar, Narayanpet and Nagarkurnool districts. Heavy rains this year have caused excess moisture which damaged the crop. Even whatever they could redeem, the farmers are in for a shock as prices are on the decline, below their remunerative level, causing huge losses to the farmers.

Gokaranna, a farmer from Gadwal district, said they were forced to the crop to Hyderabad as in the local markets the price fell to Rs 2,000 a quintal from Rs 2,500 a while ago. In some cases, low quality produce saw higher price falls, he informed. Jagadeesh, a wholesale marketer from Jadcherla, said the price fall was markedly in the case of red onions due to excess moisture which affects their shelf life. Hence, the traders are preferring onions from Maharashtra, which come for Rs 700-800 per quintal and have better quality. He, however, said the prices of white onions were still fetching Rs 1,500 to 2,000 per quintal in the local market. "Just a month ago, the onion price in the wholesale market was at Rs 2,000 to 2,500 per quintal and today it has fallen down to Rs 800 to 1,200 per quintal for the customers, while wholesalers were getting it from the farmers at Rs 500 to 600 per quintal," he added.

Meanwhile, the retail price of onions is still ruling at Rs 20 to 25 per kg. This clearly speaks of how the middle men and brokers are playing a spoil sport and making big bucks, and causing huge loss to the farmers.

A sad farmer, Bheema Nayak, of Mahabubnagar district said this year he had seen a good yield of onion crop, but the low prices in market would not meet his production cost. Many of the onion farmers in the district urge the state government to intervene and restore reasonable price for their produce by ensuring an MSP of at least Rs 1,500-2,000 per quintal so that they can at least make a breakeven.