The onion farmers who, till a fortnight ago, were jubilant of getting a good price for their commodity, are dismayed today owing to the prices of onion suddenly crashing in the open market.
The onion farmers in the district were hoping for higher earnings even under drought when majority of the agriculture crops have withered away.
The problem of the farmers arose not because of the drought but because of other reasons affecting the market. One of these, say some traders, is the recent cyclone that hit southern parts of the country. They say that since huge quantities of onion are being transported to Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala from Karnataka, the transportation was hit owing to the cyclone in these regions. The onion which was supposed to go out of the State, remained in Karnataka. Due to this, the prices dropped significantly.
Other traders say that production being higher than the requirement has also led to a sharp decline in the market price.
According to sources, while a quintal of onion was being sold at around ₹2,000 till a fortnight ago, it is now being sold at around ₹1,200 per quintal.
The traders at Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) here say that the lower quality of onion which was actually sold for at least ₹800 per quintal, is now going for ₹300 per quintal.
The traders and the farmers both admit that sharp decline in the market price results in loss only to farmers as they are the final stakeholders.
Meanwhile, other traders believe that the situation is temporary as the market will pick up within a fortnight and prices will be stable enough to help get a better price for the farmers.
