Onion prices plummet to Rs 600 per quintal, farmers resort to distress sale in Telangana
Onion farmers in Telangana face severe losses as wholesale prices fall below production costs. Despite bumper output and high retail prices, smallholders struggle with mounting debts, transport costs, and no minimum support price, prompting urgent calls for government intervention.
Hyderabad: Onion farmers are now watching their hard-earned crop rot in fields following a big price drop. The fresh harvest has not many takers and the farmers who are desperate to dispose are ending up fetching rock-bottom prices of Rs.600 to Rs.800 per quintal in the open mandis. But much in contrast, the retailers still continue to sell the same onions at Rs.20-25 per kg to consumers.
The producers who invested huge amounts on the crop are left with nothing but mounting debts. The crisis is almost the same nationwide and Telangana‘s smallholders are no exception. Encouraged by last year’s high prices fetching above Rs 4,000 per quintal, farmers switched to onion crop in different districts. But a bumper output countrywide, estimated at 25-30 million tonnes, coupled with export curbs led to flooded markets.
In Telangana, which is in fact an onion-deficit State, wholesale prices hover at Rs 10-Rs 15 per kg, well below production costs of Rs 25-30 per kg, including labour and inputs. Recent mandi prices present a grim picture. On October 17, Bowenpally market saw average of Rs 14/kg (Rs 1,100-1,400/quintal) while Gudimalkapur dipped to Rs 11/kg on October 15.
For farmers like Chintarevula Shekhar from Rajoli, the experience this year is distressing. “I invested Rs 50,000 per acre on two acres, but excess rains have done major damage”, he lamented adding “Even transport costs aren’t covered. I was forced to abandon it in the field,” he said. The same sentiment is being shared by a majority of onion farmers across the state. In desperation, some are either abandoning the crop or letting villagers dig up and take away the harvest, while others haul loads to Kurnool, Hyderabad, or Raichur, only to face steep transport fees without many buyers.
The Jogulamba Gadwal, Alampur, and surrounding areas considered onion strongholds. There is no minimum support price (MSP) extended for onions. It has left growers at the mercy of middlemen.
Onion farmers hit hard by September rains in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra are dumping onions into canals. Now Telangana onion farmers are pleading for intervention. Onion cultivation is concentrated in southern and northern regions of the state, with red onion varieties dominant in the south and white varieties in the north.
Major onion-growing districts include Rangareddy, Vikarabad, Mahabubnagar, Wanaparthy, Jogulamba Gadwal and Narayanpet are bearing the brunt. These districts have been identified for establishing dedicated onion clusters to boost production and address supply issues.Farmers in districts of Medak, Kamareddy, Karimnagar, and Sangareddy are known for large-scale cultivation. Other districts like Siddipet and Nalgonda have smaller pockets of cultivation.
The extent of land under onion cultivation was about only 17,000 acres in 2019 and it was promoted with sustained efforts during the BRS regime introducing crop clusters with the extent reaching 45,677 hectares mark in 2024. Production from this area is estimated at around 800,000-900,000 metric tonnes annually.
