The Hindu : Growers set great store on onion

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 08, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Others

Growers set great store on onion

By M. Balaganessin

PERAMBALUR, MARCH 7 . Unhappy over the price trend at the Tiruchi wholesale market, the onion growers of Perambalur district have started storing their produce in haystacks in their fields.

The growers are willing to wait for a few more months, till the price becomes competitive.

In a district noted for producing quality `chinna vengayam', onion is grown on 5,200 hectares, mostly in Perambalur and Kunnam taluks. The area under onion shot up in the last couple of years, when a large number of cotton growers, who suffered a heavy loss, switched over to other crops such as maize, sunflower, groundnut and onion.

For the past few decades, the onion growers complained that they could not get a competitive price. Chinnapillai (55), a woman farmer of Alathur near Siruvachur, says two acres she owned had yielded 1,750 kg this season. She had invested Rs.10, 000. Though she had harvested the crop a couple of weeks ago, she did not sell it. "Onion rules at Rs. 8 a kg at the Tiruchi market now. As it will not help me meet the cost of transport and incidental expenses, I have planned to sell when the price shoots up to at least Rs. 12," she says.

The growers of Perambalur and adjoining parts of Thanjavur district depend on "brokers" in Tiruchi, for selling their produce to merchants from other districts, especially to those from Dindigul.

The Peasants and Toilers Party district secretary, K. Ramarajan, says those who traditionally cultivate `chinna vengayam' in the district have to depend on middlemen, who exploit them, and setting up a procurement centre at Perambalur is the only way-out.

The Joint Director of Agriculture, K. Chelladurai, said 2,600 hectares had been brought under onion in Perambalur, 2,400 hectares in Kunnam, and 100 hectares each in Veppanthattai and Ariyalur taluks.

The texture and fertility of the soil in the district, he said, suited well for the crop. The conventional storage system would help the farmers preserve onion for six months.

Officials of the Agriculture department visited the fields, where the produce had been stocked, for ascertaining the yield. On an average, the per-hectare yield this season was 12 to 16 tonnes, he added.

The Collector, S. Natarajan, said the administration was considering the possibility of opening a procurement centre at Perambalur.

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