Onion farmers in the district who sowed early suffered severe crop damage due to monsoon rains. The farmers said that they incurred a loss to the extent of Rs 40,000 per acre due to fungal attack.
Thoothukudi stands sixth in the State in onion production. The onions grown here are bigger in size and known for its pungency, similar to the Bellary variety.
In the district, onions are largely cultivated in the rain-fed tracts of Pudur, Vilathikulam and Ettayapuram blocks. It is cultivated as the main crop and also inter-crop in chilly and coriander fields.
While some farmers sow onion as early as August even before the onset of the northeast monsoon, a majority of the farmers sow it in September. In 2019, onion is cultivated in 8741 acre, according to official data.
According to onion farmers, they cultivated 150 kg of seed onions in an acre which gives a yield of at least 1500 kilogramme (1.5 tonnes). The expenditure including the basal input, ploughing, weeding, pesticides cost over Rs 40,000 per acre, they said adding that the onion yields are procured by the traders of Tirunelveli, Madurai and Ottanchatiram.
As it was raining continuously for the past fortnight, the situation is conducive for 'Purple Black Scorch', a fungal disease.
An onion farmer from Muthusamipuram, Padmanaban told TNIE that the onion fields were submerged in water. Being a rain-fed track comprising black soil, the water does not drain easily, he said.
"The 'Purple Black Scorch' causes blight to the onion leaves initially and leads to onion getting rotten, which affected the onion bulb formation. Since the farm fields are submerged in water, the onion bulbs got decayed as well," a horticulture department official told TNIE.
Padmanaban added that his entire field of over two-acre had decayed due to the coupled effect of water inundation and 'Purple Black Scorch'.
"The input cost grew up as we sprayed pesticides thrice this year, however, it failed to protect the crop due to inadequate sunlight," he added.
Another onion farmer Vellasami of Boothalapuram said that if they had harvested at least moderate yields, they could have got their expenses.
Meanwhile, officials said that onion farmers who sowed early have suffered severe damages.
However, those harvesting by the end of December is likely to get moderate yield as monsoon has almost ended.
The agriculture officials advised the farmers to insure their crops so that they could at least get back their cost.