Distress sale of onion affects Kalahandi farmers

Dharmagarh: Distress sale of onion has aggravated farmers’ woes in Kalahandi district.  After months of hard work, the onion farmers are forced to sell their produce at a much lesser price than the normal market rate.

According to reports, the farmers are forced to sell onions at Rs 500 to Rs 600 per quintal which is barely sufficient to pay bill of the electricity consumed for farming.

Talking to OTV, a farmer Khageswar Sahu said, "We are suffering by selling our produce at Rs 500 per quintal as it is not even sufficient to bear cost of the fertilizer. Cold storage facilities and distribution of seeds by government could have provided some relief to the farmers but nothing has come off as yet."

As per horticulture department, 95 storage houses bearing a capacity of 25 metric tonne have been constructed in the district. As onion was sold at a price of Rs 40 to Rs 80 per kilogram last year, the onion farmers produced more crops expecting huge profit. But since the rate was fixed at Rs 15 per kilogram, the farmers had to face loss.

Assistant Director of Horticulture, Dharmagarh, Kishor Kumar Mahaling said, "All expected that surge in onion prices to Rs 40 and Rs 80 will fetch them great profit. They produced extra crops expecting good profit but this year the prices remained low so they had to face problems."