Amid crisis, onions fetch Mudhol farmer Rs 92.8 lakh

Onions must surely be giving this farmer from Mudhol tears of joy. That too in a season when onions have wreaked havoc with the farming community - which is not getting good returns - and the consumers are paying through their nose.

Needless to say, it is the middlemen who are laughing their way to the bank. But Vittal Tolamatti has made a windfall, a whopping Rs 92.8 lakh by growing the bulbs on his 24 acres of land at Bhantanur in the taluk in a span of one quarter, October-December.

Two varieties of onion, Bheema Super on 16 acres and Indo-American on eight acres have filled his coffers. His earnings in one season are something that may be one in a lifetime.

Tolamatti has grown 3,400 sacks of onion, weighing between 53 kg and 65 kg each, earning him Rs 3,000-Rs 12,200 a quintal.

The farmer earned this sum through a modest investment of Rs 4.5 lakh. His highest income so far from growing onions is Rs 12 lakh.

In fact, as luck would have it, Tolamatti had planned to grow sugarcane but changed his mind later. Had he done so, the success may not have been so sweet after all. The farmer says he may have earned a maximum of Rs 18 lakh.