G.H. Tippareddy, MLC, has said that the Government should set up warehouses in the district to reduce losses being incurred by onion growers.
He was speaking after inaugurating a workshop on ‘Marketing of onion', jointly organised by the Minor Irrigation Department and the Chitradurga District Lake Users' Federation here on Wednesday.
He said that the district achieved fame in cultivating quality onion. Each taluk of the district grew onion in at least 400 hectares of land. However, over 40 per cent of the onion was wasted owing to lack of proper storage units, he regretted.
“The huge losses could be prevented if the Government takes initiative in opening warehouses. Even farmers could set up warehouses by forming committees,” Mr. Tippareddy said and promised to speak to the Minister concerned in this regard.
Criticising the Union Government's export policy, he alleged that they only helped the traders and not the farmers.
Policy
Under the guise of bringing down prices of onion in the domestic market, the Union Government was only helping the agents become richer and neglecting the interests of farmers, he remarked.
Lauding the Water Augmentation Scheme, Mr. Tippareddy said that due to the scheme, check-dams and lakes were being built, which had helped increase the groundwater level.
Project director of the scheme, Ranga Rao said the scheme, which started in 2001, would end in 2012. The objective of the scheme was to develop the lakes through community participation. In all, 1,829 lakes had been developed in the first phase in the State at the cost of Rs. 815 crore. In the second stage, at least 1,900 lakes would be developed, of which work on around 500 lakes had already been completed, he added.
