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Onions now bring tears to farmers' eyes

M P Joshi in Lasalgaon, Maharashtra

Barely a month ago, sky-high prices of onions moved consumers to tears and state governments out of power. Now the crash in prices is driving farmers to despair.

Farmers in the ''Onion Bowl of Asia'' comprising Nashik, Pune, Ahmednagar, Dhule and Aurangabad districts of Maharashtra, are agitating for higher procurement price and withdrawal of ban on onion exports.

Currently, the vegetable is selling at Rs 300 per quintal. At 1998-end, the figure was Rs 4,000! From Rs 70 a kg in December to Rs 7 a kg in January is quite a tumble. Other vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes and green peas are also in the soup. Raddish, perhaps, is the cheapest vegetable at Re 1 a kg, bemoan retailers.

N D Jadhav, a farmer from Jopul in Chandwad tehsil, said the current price of onion was much below the cost of production of Rs 500 per quintal. Rangnath Sahadu Patil, another farmer from Chandwad, who sold onions at Rs 422 per quintal on Tuesday also expressed concern over the falling prices. Farmers have attributed the rise in the cost of production of onions to the increase in the rates of seeds, labour charges and fertilisers.

Trade at the Bhagribaba marketyard here was stalled on January 2 after onion prices were quoted below Rs 300 per quintal. The market reopened only two days later under heavy security, unprecedented in the history of the oldest market of the country.

Besides immediate withdrawal of ban on exports and procurement price, the farmers are demanding financial assistance for storage. They also want the price to be fixed at Rs 1,000 per quintal with immediate effect.

The Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party demonstrated in front of the Chandwad tehasildar's office yesterday in protest against falling prices and demanded support price at Rs 1,000 per quintal.

Patil, local legislator and chairman of the Krishi Utpanna Bazar Samiti, Lasalgaon, said farmers are badly hit by the falling prices. About 150,000 quintals arrived at the Bhagribaba market in December as against 49,000 quintals in November.

According to agricultural experts, storage of onion is a big problem in the country as most of the farmers are poor and and cannot afford their own godowns.

Deshmukh, agriculture superintendent, Nashik, said the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development and the District Cooperative Bank have jointly worked out a plan for storing onions during a major price fall. They will either offer storage facility or provide financial assistance to those who do not have godowns. Constructing godowns require at least Rs 70,000, he said.

Deshmukh, however, said the kharif onions may not take any advantage of modern storage as they can be preserved for a maximum 15 days or a month while late summer onion can be preserved for about five months.

Kharif, pol or rangda and unhal or summer onion are the three types of Indian onions. Except unhal, the varieties do not last for more than 15 days.

Legislator Patil expressed fears of onion prices shooting up in April in view of sharp reduction in cultivation due to non-availability of seeds in the current season.

Sukhraj Jain, a leading exporter, said if the Centre takes any decision regarding lifting of ban on exports, permission for actual shipment should not be given before January 25 to avoid speculation in market.

Marketing officials at Lasalgaon said late arrival, sharp increase in prices and damage to the onion plants have affected the seeds control programme during the current year.

The estimated farm land under onion cultivation in the current year 1998-99 is 6,986 hectares as against 12,000 hectares in the corresponding period in the previous year, officials said.

According to G Shanmugasundaram, president of the Perishable Goods Merchants' Association, Koyambedu, Tamil Nadu, excessive arrivals from producing centres and anticipation of a good price during the Sankranthi festival were responsible for the crash in prices in south India.

With the increase in the arrivals, thanks to a good crop and a bountiful monsoon, this trend is likely to continue for one more month, he said.

UNI

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