Unseasonal Rain Destroys Onion Crop, Farmers Forced To Sell It For A Pittance

Onion, which used to be sold for up to Rs 100 per kg at one time, is now being sold for just Rs 4 or 5 per kg. Due to adverse weather conditions, the onion crop is getting spoiled in fields and it has become difficult for farmers to even recover the cost price. 

Farmers toil a lot to buy expensive onion seeds and sow them. At present, one kg onion seeds cost around Rs 25,000 per kg in the market.

It was being hoped this time that with a good onion crop, a superior cost price will also be recovered. But unseasonal rainfall since the initial period has completely destroyed the entire onion crop.

At one time, it was sold at above Rs 50 per kg but today, onion is making its way to the market from the fields at the rate of just Rs 4 or 5 per kg.

In Haldwani, cultivators sow the onion crop in an area extending over hundreds of ‘bighas’ (1 ‘bigha’ equals 1,600 square yards).

Even after paying for seeds, fertilisers and wages to labourers, the unseasonal rainfall has washed away all the hard work this time.

Meanwhile, the lockdown has spoiled the remaining chances of farmers making a profit from the onion crop. Onions harvested from fields will not find a market and the local market is closed.

Hence, farmers are unable to understand where and at what rate they will sell onions and are compelled to sell it for a pittance.