TIRUCHY: At a time when onion farmers across the state are hit by a drop in procurement price due to “surplus production”, Tiruchy farmers can claim no relief on the productivity front either as they complain of the unseasonal rain earlier this year having left them with reduced crop yield. If the situation worsens, a detailed report would be sent to the state government seeking compensation, agriculture department officials said.
Selvaraj R, an onion farmer, said, "Normally the yield would be around seven tonnes per acre but owing to the rain it is only about five tones this year.” Besides the money spent on labour, other costs incurred have left us with huge losses, he added. While another onion farmer, PM Rajendran, pointed to how traders quote a procurement price of Rs 18-24/kg this year as against Rs 30-35 quoted last year, Pu Vishwanathan, the state president of Tamil Nadu Tank and River Irrigation Farmers’ Association, said, "The only solution for onion farmers would be for the government to procure our onions and sell it through the public distribution system. If not other relief measures should be announced to protect farmers."
With horticulture department officials mentioning the average acreage for onion cultivation in the district to be about 4,500 hectares, G Saravanan, the deputy director of Agriculture Marketing and Agri Business department, said, "We are trying to help the onion farmers through the uzhavar sandhais across Tiruchy. We are also checking for unfair trade practices in the form of middlemen and are advising farmers to be aware of them."
On the low procurement rate by the market, Saravanan said, "We have special godowns for onion farmers where they can store their produce and wait for the market to cool down a bit." When contacted, a district level official in Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department said, "If more farmers approach us claiming losses, we will definitely take up their grievances with the state government." Photo Caption: Small onion for sale in Gandhi market, Tiruchy on Saturday. Onion farmers of the district are worried over prices declining to Rs 18 from Rs 35 last year. MK Ashok Kumar