Sangareddy: Onion farmers in distress as prices dip
A month ago it was between Rs 50 to 70 per kg, now it dropped to mere Rs 6
Sadasivpet: The price of onion which was Rs 50 to 70 a kg a month ago has plummeted to a mere Rs 6 a kg in the wholesale market. The abysmal fall in the prices of onions is bringing tears to farmers who invested over Rs 50,000 per acre on onion cultivation.
Tenant farmers have to shell out an additional Rs 20,000 towards rent for the land. Though the farmers had got a bumper harvest of 90 to 120 quintals per acre, the poor price in the market has left them dejected.
The onion market in Sadasivpet town gets over 70,000 quintals of onion every year as farmers from both Vikarabad and Sangareddy district bring their produce to the market.
Speaking to Telangana Today, Manduva Venkataiah (65), an onion farmer from Terpole village of Kondapur mandal in Sangareddy district, said he harvested onion crop grown in his two-acre and brought it to the market on Thursday.
Saying he invested Rs 50,000 per acre, Venkataiah said he will hardly make any profit this time since his returns would just be Rs 60,000 per acre. “My entire family had taken care of the crop during the past four months. We will not even get our wages,” he said.
Basavaraj, another farmer from Mominpet in Vikarabad district, said he got just Rs 300 per quintal (Rs 3 per kg) as the quality of his onion was poor. “A seed-producing company cheated farmers by giving a new variety of onions this year. As the quality of onions is very poor, the farmers are being offered just Rs 3 a kg for this variety,” Basavaraj said. The young farmer from Vikarabad district said that he will incur at least Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 loss per acre.
Secretary Onion Market K Amarlingeshwar said they usually export onions to Vijayawada and other parts of Andhra Pradesh, but this time the farmers in Kurnool had got a bumper harvest. Besides, Andhra Pradesh and the Telangana States had got a huge quantity of imports from Maharashtra and other parts of the country, he said.
Another farmer Ramulu Ramavath has appealed to the State government to provide MSP to Onions on the lines of other crops besides building some modern storage facilities which would also keep the prices of onions in balance, benefitting both the farmers and consumers.
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