Lack of storage leaves onion farmers, consumers in tears

Hubballi: Lack of adequate storage is not only hurting onion farmers who are denied fair prices but also consumers, who are forced to pay more during the lean season.

Onion prices have nosedived across APMCs in Karnataka due to a bumper yield this year. In Bengaluru, the wholesale price is between Rs 14 and Rs 21 a kg, whereas retail prices are around Rs 25 to Rs 28 a kg. On an average, onions are priced at Rs 40 a kg, and during the lean period, prices touch Rs 100 a kg.

With an average annual production of 38.91 lakh tonnes, Karnataka is the second largest onion producer in the country after Maharashtra. However, lack of central storage facilities is preventing marginal and small farmers from growing onion as rabi and summer crop. This is the ideal time for onion cultivation as the chance of onions catching diseases is low and the yield is high. Moreover, this harvest can be stored for longer periods compared to the ones grown during the rainy season.

On an average, Karnataka can store only 3.75 lakh tonnes of onion in its central storage facilities. B Ravi Shankar, secretary of the Potato-Onion Merchants’ Association, Bengaluru, says the presence of at least one large storage with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes in each district would not only help more farmers take up onion cultivation as rabi crop, but also regulate prices of the most sought after vegetable during the lean period (October to November).

“In spite of favorable conditions for onion cultivation, we are unable to meet the demand and Maharashtra is benefiting from this,” he says.

The dry regions of Karnataka like Vijayapura, Gadag, Ballari, Koppal, Dharwad, Belagavi, Chitradurga and Kolar are some of the major onion growing districts in the state. However, none of these districts has large storage facilities.

Rahul Kumar B, Vijayapura Horticulture Deputy Director says that of around 55,000 onion farmers in the district, only 2,500 have storage sheds (25- tonne capacity) constructed under the National Horticulture Mission scheme. “With better storage facilities, we can increase onion production,” he says.

Dhananjaya, an onion grower from Chitradurga says his irrigated land is ideal for cultivation of onion in rabi. “I can’t grow them on a large scale as I don’t have sufficient storage. Whatever I grow between February and May has to be cleared before the rainy season. As I go for distress sale and due to competition from Maharashtra, I get a lower price,” he says.

Currently, the Bengaluru APMC receives 41,895 bags (25 kg each) of onion a day, mostly from Maharashtra. While onion produced in Karnataka is traded between Rs 500 and Rs 1,400 a tonne, the crop from Maharashtra is being traded at Rs 900 to Rs 1,500 a tonne.

A senior horticulture officer says Karnataka’s rabi onion cultivation has remained stagnant for many years now. “The state government through the NHM is providing storage units for individual farmers at subsidised rates. We don’t think we need more large scale storage houses,” he says.