TIRUCHY: Unseasonal rain dealt a big blow to the locally cultivated shallots in Tiruchy and Perambalur, fetching very low price in market due to its poor quality.
Traders fear the situation is likely to return to normalcy only after three months. Already, the monsoon last year damaged a major portion of the harvest-ready shallots in the district and fetched a high price in market (from 20 per kg to 100 per kg). Also, the arrival from other states got hit, according to traders from the Gandhi Market. The stakeholders' last straw of hope was on the shallots harvested in January. However, the unexpected rains came as a big blow to them.
A senior horticulture official told TNIE, "Shallots have been cultivated in about 2,100 hectares in Tiruchy, which is the largest area compared to previous years' record. Owing to unseasonal rainfall, more than 978 hectares of shallots got damaged, which accounts to more than 33 per cent. Including shallots and other horticultural crops, more than 1,080 hectares suffered damaged in the district."
Though compensation would be provided for those who have insured their crops under the government scheme and reports of damage sent to the government, still it is the hard-earned efforts that have gone waste, rue farmers. Rajendran, a farmer from Tiruchy said, "We were hoping for a promising season this year, but rain spoiled our dream."
Speaking to TNIE, Thangaraj, secretary of Tiruchy Wholesale Onion Traders Association said, "Though onions are brought from other states, majority of the supply is met by shallots cultivated locally in Tiruchy and Perambalur. More than 90 per cent of the crop sold in the market is in poor quality, which will only fetch 10 per kg, while the good quality ones sees `50-60 per kg. It'll take at least more than three months for the situation to get back to normalcy."