TIRUCHY, PERAMBALUR: The absence of rain would normally see escalation of prices as far as agriculture is concerned. But the situation is the opposite for farmers of small onions in Tiruchy and Perambalur.
Because of scanty rains, farmers in the central districts chose to stay with small onion cultivation instead of switching to water-intensive paddy and sugarcane, which resulted in a glut. With markets flooded with small onions, prices of the vital ingredient of the iconic recipe in sambar has nose-dived by at least 50 per cent in the past two weeks.
According to officials of Horticulture department, as much as 5,000 acres in Thuraiyur, Uppiliyapuram, Manachanallur, and Pullambadi blocks of Tiruchy, and around 15,000 acres in Perambalur, including Alathur and Veppanthattai blocks, are flush with small onions.
“We would have gone for paddy and sugarcane had we got enough rainfall. But in its absence, farmers have opted to recultivate small onions. Alathur and Veppanthattai farmers for successive terms cultivated small onions.” said V Neelakandan, a farmer from Perambalur.
Similarly in Tiruchy, small onion cultivation has taken place on close to 5,000 acres in Thuraiyur and Uppiliyapuram area. With as much as 10-15 per cent surge in production, the problem of plenty has directly affected the prices of small onion also called as sambar onions.
“At this time last year, a tonne of small onions was sold at Rs 30,000. Now we are getting only Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 whereas the cost stands at Rs 25,000 per acre,” Neelakandan added.
According to traders in Gandhi market, around 200 tonnes of small onion would arrive at the market here everyday and would be supplied across central districts.
But in the past two weeks, the excessive production of small onion has made its reserve to bulge in the godowns forcing traders to sell at throwaway prices. The 75-90 day small onion crop require only half the water needed for paddy. From being sold at `25 per kilogram in the first week of November, the retail prices fell to `5-10 per kg on Saturday. The prices are likely to hold for the next few weeks.
“Our estimate is that production could have surged by 10 per cent,” said a horticulture department official said.