Synopsis
Onion prices are usually higher in the rainy season in the absence of fresh harvest anywhere in the country. However, currently, the prices of average quality old onion are in the range of Rs 9-13/kg in the largest producer, Maharashtra. Farmers from MP, the largest garlic growing state, are struggling to recover the cost of production, forcing the state government to constitute teams for exploring markets in other states.
Farmers growing garlic and onions are making losses due to excess production, subdued demand, lower exports, and increased cost of production inflicted by excess rainfall. Although, tomato prices have started improving since last week, farmers fear losses due to rainfall induced damages.
“Wholesale garlic prices have been ruling in the range of Rs 10-40/kg for two months, which makes it unviable for the farmers, who have to bear the logistics, packaging and other costs,” said Pravin Kumar Dhamija, a garlic trader from the Azadpur Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Delhi.
Farmers from Madhya Pradesh, the largest garlic growing state, are struggling to recover the cost of production, forcing the state government to constitute teams for exploring markets in other states.
Onion prices are usually higher in the rainy season in the absence of fresh harvest anywhere in the country. However, currently, the prices of average quality old onion are in the range of Rs 9-13/kg in the largest producer, Maharashtra.
“This price for the onion stored for five months is below the cost of production for farmers as there are qualitative and quantitative losses and the carrying costs that the grower needs to recover,” said Ajit Shah, a Mumbai-based onion exporter.
“Slightly higher storage of rabi onion, moderate exports due to currency issues in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, subdued demand in the domestic market, good rainfall and no damage to the crop in Hubli belt are the factors keeping onion prices tame,” he added.
During the monsoon, Maharashtra is the biggest supplier of tomatoes to most of the country and the Pimpalgaon Baswant APMC is the hub of this trade.
“Tomato rates were Rs 10-12/kg till a week ago. They have improved over the week due to lower arrivals,” said Arun More, a farmer from Nashik. The year-on-year arrival of tomatoes at the Pimpalgaon market was less than 50% in August.
However, farmers are staring at losses due to the fall in yield expected due to rainfall that has been persisting for 45 days. “There has been lot of flower-dropping due to continuous rainfall in Nashik region. I have done my first picking last week and got a rate of Rs 20/kg.
Even if I can get this rate for all my future pickings, I may still end up with losses as my production per acre will be lower this year,” said Dilip Dighe, a farmer from Pimpalgaon Baswant village.
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