Onion growers resort to immediate sale

Harvest of onion has been brisk in parts of the district, and farmers across the district are quickly despatching the produce to the wholesale traders at the Gandhi Market in Tiruchi for immediate sale.

Farmers predict that the demand for onion seeds would be far less in the near future in general and during the forthcoming ‘Thai’ pattam in particular due to the scanty rainfall so far during the North East monsoon season.

Onion cultivators usually stock the produce in their conventional storage yards called ‘pattarai’ which can withstand severe heat or floods for about three months.

This storage facilitates farmers to sell the produce when onions fetch higher prices, particularly from farmers seeking to buy seeds.

But farmers of Padalur and Alathur Gate, major clusters of onion production in the district, said that they did not resort to stocking the onion this season. The poor monsoon will result in a serious fall in the area under onion cultivation next season, they say. “The demand for seed will be less,” said Mahendran, one of the farmers of Padalur who has started harvesting the produce on his three acres.

The only solace for him is that he could harvest quality onion. “I had invested huge sum on fertilizer and pesticide,” he said.

Another farmer of Alathur Gate, Revathy, said the price per kg at Gandhi Market stood at Rs 15. Her expenditure came to about Rs. 5 a kg towards fertilizer, pesticide and labour. She said she had to be content with the price as otherwise the onions may go waste. The crop was raised during August.