Onion stocks to the tune of 20,000 tonnes piled up in the Kurnool market yard on Tuesday as against the auction capacity of about 6,000 to 7,000 tonnes a day.
Farmers from various parts of the district have been staying put on the premises for nearly three to four days, awaiting auction of their produce. Onion has been cultivated in 10,000 hectares till date this year as against 20,000 hectares last year.
The price of dry onion shot up to about ₹3,000 for about four days in August first week when there was no rainfall and this led to more farmers raising the crop. The present sale price of dry onion was between ₹1,000 and ₹1,500 per quintal and that of lower grades was around ₹500 per quintal.
Rasool, an onion grower of Alwala in Gonegandla mandal, said he has been waiting in the yard for nearly a week.
Officials were noting down the stocks brought by farmers and giving tokens specifying the date of auction.
Another farmer, Mahabub Basha of Maramdoddi in C. Belagal mandal, said the commission agents were quoting the auction base price at ₹300 or ₹500 per quintal and it could go up to ₹1,000.
Basha said he invested ₹70,000 per acre and the prevailing price would not fetch him any profit.
Sunkanna of Bapana Doddi in C. Belagal mandal, whose produce was listed for auction on Tuesday, brought 13 quintals.
The market yard has jumbo sheds to store about 6,000 tonnes of onion each in the old market yard and an equal quantity in the new one, Kurnool Agricultural Market Committee Special Grade Secretary T. Sivaramakrishna Sastry told The Hindu.
Dry onion was fetching a good price of over ₹1,000 per quintal, but damaged stocks were being purchased at nominal prices, he said.
Toll-free number
Mr. Sastry advised farmers to call the toll-free number 18004252566 and enquire about the stock position and price before deciding to bring the stocks to the yard. He advised farmers to dry the produce, grade it in their respectively villages so that they can readily sell the stock. Two air-conditioned sheds were built under a Centrally-sponsored scheme that can store 10 tonnes of onion, but the farmers were not utilising them, he said. When the price fell to ₹300 per quintal last year, the government purchased the stocks at ₹600 per quintal under the market intervention scheme, he recalled.
Officials were planning to announce dates when the growers of Kurnool, Nandyal and Adoni divisions could bring their produce to the yard, Mr. Sastry said.
