Onion growers in Sikar are crying once again because of callous attitude of the government.

Onion, an essential commodity of Indian kitchen, makes the farmers go in distress again. Not much time has passed since the onion farmers suffered heavy losses as the government did not pay them the rice price for the crop.

In 2013, onion prices were fixed as high as rupees 5000 to 6000 per quintal as a result of which farmers increased the quantity of produce in 2014. A bumper production in 2014 made the prices fall but there were no takers. Many farmers had taken loans for more production of onion crop but the fall in price was a heavy blow on them. The farmers did not even get an equivalent price of production cost. As a result, many faced debts.

Once again this year, since the government did not fix a right support cost for the farmers, they are unable to sell the produce since a low price doesn’t even fulfil their expenses occurred in growing the crop. The farmers are now either throwing away the produce or feeding it to the animals. They are even seen destroying the crop in anguish.

With this situation, it may be difficult for the onion lovers for whom it is a necessary content in daily diet either in curries or in salads. With the growing heat, the consumption of onions goes to a high level in Indian homes since it is known to fight heat and sun strokes. If the market goes short of onions, common public will be as much agitated as the farmers since whatever will be available will be at a much higher cost. There was a record rise of more than 100 rupees per kilo of onions in the past few years.

With inputs from rajasthan patrika and times of india