Farmers shed tears over poor demand, dump onions into pond in Shoolagiri

KRISHNAGIRI: A section of onion farmers in Sanamavu near Shoolagiri is forced to dump harvested crops in farmlands and ponds allegedly because there are no takers and onions are poorly priced.

On Friday, the video of a  27-year-old farmer dumping a truckload, around 700 bags, of onions went viral.

Farmer S Anilkumar said, “Around 100 farmers cultivate onion in and around Sanamavu on over 150 to 200 acres. Usually, traders procure the onions directly from farmers, which benefits them greatly. For the past two months, however, there has been no purchase from farmers, due to which they are forced to store large quantities of onion in a warehouse. This resulted in a huge stockpile. With no signs of demand improving, farmers are dumping the onions to make space for new products.”

“The 700 bags that were dumped was the yield of only two farmers. Each of these bags contained 50 to 55 kg of onions. Several farmers in our area are in a dire situation. Each farmer who cultivated onion has invested over Rs 1 lakh an acre on fertiliser, and labour, and if they opt for cold storage, it will cost an additional Rs 20,000,” Anilkumar added.

R Ramesh, another farmer, said: “Recently, we had offered a few vendors to take the onion load for Rs 500 a bag, but they refused. There is a lack of demand. Last year, a bag of onion fetched Rs 5,000-Rs 8,000. We are facing massive losses.”

Senior officials in the agriculture marketing department said, “According to the Ulavar Sandhai scheme, prices of onions are between Rs 25 and Rs 30. We ensure that consumers and farmers do not lose out. Currently, the prices of onions are quite stable, which means there is an equal supply and demand. As far as the private wholesale market is concerned, we cannot comment. If the farmers need help to sell their products, we will help them.”