After incurring heavy loss last year for extensively cultivating onion, farmers of Vijayapura district are now reluctant to take up the same crop this year with the fear of meeting the same fate.
Last year, hoping to get higher revenue as prices of onion were high, many farmers cultivated onion in the district, but by the time the crop came to the harvesting stage, the prices had come down substantially.
The arrival of onion in large quantity from Maharashtra’s Nasik added to the woes of the farmers as the arrivals further reduced the price in the local market.
While in 2015-16, a quintal of onion was sold between ₹ 1,200 and ₹ 2,000, the same quantity of onion went for ₹ 400 to ₹ 800 in 2016-17, according to wholesale traders.
Despite being the second largest onion growing district in the State after Chitradurga, the farmers in Vijayapura are finding little remuneration from onion this year.
Unlike last year when the Horticulture Department had set a target of 5,709 hectares of land under onion, this year, considering the reluctant mood of farmers, the department has reduced the target to 3,438 hectares of land.
Even the officials are sceptic about reaching even this target; however, they are hopeful that in the coming days, more farmers would take up cultivation.
The officials said that in 2013-14, the district stood first in cultivating onion in the State when the crop was sown on 17,822 hectares as against 11,891 hectares in Chitradurga.
Progressive farmers, however, believe that the absence of guidance to farmers on how much to grow to get better prices is one of the chief reasons for the loss.
The lack of scientifically designed onion storage units that could store onion for longer duration also adds to the falling prices because farmers wish to sell the produce quickly since it is perishable.
