Off-season rain brings tears to small onion farmers in Tiruchi district as quality and prices drop drastically

K. Rani, a farmer at Sengattupatti village in Thuraiyur taluk, employs seven women to pack small onions from her pattarai (shed) near her land. Pointing to small size of onions, she says recent rain hampered its complete growth and the low weight affects prices

K. Rani, a farmer at Sengattupatti village in Thuraiyur taluk, employs seven women to pack small onions from her pattarai (shed) near her land. Pointing to small size of onions, she says recent rain hampered its complete growth and the low weight affects prices.

“Usually on one acre, five tonnes of onion can be cultivated. But this time, because of a shift in climate from extreme heatwaves to untimely rain, only four tonnes are cultivated. Onion’s usual shine is also not there. I have spent around ₹60,000 per acre. To make some profit, the rate should be at least above ₹40 a kg,” says Ms. Rani, who settled for ₹24 a kg offered by a local trader.

“They are asking for ₹15 to ₹20 a kg. It becomes difficult to settle for that price but we don’t have any option,” says R. Thirumalai, a small onion farmer of Thalaru village in Vannadu panchayat in Pachamalai hills.

In places such as Musiri and Thathaiyangarpet in the district, where small onion is cultivated on 5,000 hectacres, prices are slightly higher because of less intensity of rain. “This time, the price of small onion is quoted at ₹30 a kg. If we can store our onions for a longer period, we can get better prices but then there is rain threat,” says Gunavathy V., a farmer from Nelliampatty village in Musiri, pointing to the lack of adequate storage facility.

R. Vijaya Kumar, an onion trader from Thuraiyur, says there has been a drop in the quality of small onions across the district this year. “We procure first quality small onions for ₹35 to ₹40. But it becomes rare to find first quality due to which prices have dropped. In onions, there is no profit for farmers this time. In many places, due to rain, sheds that stored onions were completely lost.”

In Tiruchi Gandhi Market, small onion sold at a range of ₹50 to ₹60 a kg on Sunday depending upon the quality, said M.K. Kamala Kannan of the fruit traders’ welfare association.

In Uzhavar sandhai across the district, the price of small onions was quoted at ₹66 to ₹74 a kg on Sunday. “In one acre, at least 4,000 kg of onion can be cultivated but in uzhavar sandhai such large scale quantities are hard to sell as the buyers buy in small quantities due to which the dependence on private traders becomes greater. Depending upon the quality, we are trying to connect traders from other districts to those areas where procurement prices are low in the district,” says a district-level Agriculture Department official.