Onion challenge: A farmer's humble effort to make Kerala self-sufficient in onions

A farmer at Alappuzha district in Kerala has become the talk of the town as he successfully carried out onion cultivation and even launched an onion challenge to motivate more farmers to onion cultivation.

Despite high demand for onion in Kerala and scanty production in the state, the state often witnesses onion price sky-rocketing. Earlier studies found that each family in Kerala would require at least four-kilogram onion.

This prompted Sujith S P, a farmer at Kanjikuzhi in Alappuzha, to experiment in onion cultivation. As it succeeded. many farmers in the region are now seeking his advice on initiating onion farming. With the support of the local panchayat, Sujith initiated an onion challenge to motivate the farmers. Sujith's drive had also gone viral on social media.

Sujith told DH that even as there was a general perception that Kerala's climate was not suitable for onion farming, he could prove that it was untrue. He bought 36 kilograms of good quality small onion (shallots) and sowed it in 50 cents of land. In two months, he got yield of over 300 kilograms small onion, apart from its stem and leaves.

As part of the onion challenge, he is now distributing the small onion grown by him to the farmers in the region and motivating them to start onion farming. Once more farmers initiate it, it would help in marketing and distribution. In due course, Sujith hopes to make Kerala self-sufficient in onion, which would also help the price stabilise.

The Kerala Agricultural University had earlier made several initiatives to promote onion farming in the state by identifying the varieties suitable for Kerala. November to April period was considered to be ideal for onion cultivation in the state. At present, only Palakkad district has some onion cultivation, sources in the agriculture sector said.