Onion growers in tears as price tumbles

NAMAKKAL: Farmers who have been cultivating small onion are sore over the crash in the price which has touched a new low in recent weeks. They fear that the present crash may result in huge loss for them. Market analysts attribute the fall to factors such as decrease in the volume of exports, increase in acreage and subsequent rise in the yield in the state.In Namakkal, the crop has been cultivated in  about 1200 hectare in the current season with an estimated yield of about 15 tonnes per hectare. Last year the level of acreage in the corresponding period was about 800 hectare, an official with the Agricultural Marketing department told Express.Erumaipatti, Mallasamudram, Elachipalayam, Puduchathiram, Vennandur, Namakkal and Paramathi are the major blocks where the vegetable is being cultivated.The official said, “The price of first quality small onion is pegged at `8 at the farm gate while in the market it will be around Rs 15. The second quality onions are sold for Rs 5 at the farm gate”.However, ryots noted that they were given  lesser price, only Rs 5 per kg for first quality by the middlemen who purchase the commodity and later sell it to traders.The general secretary of the Tamilnadu Farmers Association K Sundaram noted, “By and large farmers are worried about the falling prices. If this trend continues, then farmers may incur a loss of nearly Rs 20,000 per acre”. It may noted that the producers of onion reaped good returns six months ago when the price of first quality onion ranged between Rs 15 and Rs 18.Talking to Express over the down fall of the small onion price, N Raveendran, National Consultant for National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP), Coimbatore told, “The decline in the volume of onion due to a high level of minimum export price (MEP) has significantly contributed to the crash.”