Defunct storage, product units leave onion farmers in lurch

Perambalur district is one of the major producers of shallots in the state and produces around 70,000 tonne of shallots every year. Since shallots are shortly perishable, the government had built a cold storage to the tune of Rs 1.15 crore in the commercial complex in 2014 to store the products for around 10 months.

However, the plan of storing the products in a cold storage did not work out since it was technically not advisable to preserve shallots in a cold environment. “We do not store shallots in refrigerators even at home. It can be stored in the farm itself,” said Raja Chidambaram, General Secretary of Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangam. “To store onions, we need a combination of heat, cold and air. Our conventional method of storing was effective for a maximum of six months,” he further said.

Meanwhile, the cold storage was defunct, and the farmers turned to the traditional method of storing which caused equal damage. This prompted them to show less interest in the crop, which resulted in an increase in its price. Shallots, usually sold at Rs 50 per kg, were worth between Rs 65 and Rs 80.

Since the cultivation had shrunken by 50 per cent, the quality witnessed a dip too. Of the harvest, 40 per cent of the crops were stocked as seeds by the farmers and the remaining 60 per cent used to reach the market.

“Mostly, the traders approached us on field and purchased the yield at Rs 40 to 45 per kg and then sell it at Rs 80 in the market,” said Irur A Natesan of onion farmers association, Perambalur.

Meanwhile, in July 2017, the Indian Institute of Crop Procession Technology, Thanjavur established a unit for onion value-added products such as small onion pickle, paste, powder and the pealed onions were preserved in packages that would be exported to countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka. The institute also trained to the farmers. However, within a few months of inauguration, the union lost its patronage among the farmers and is likely to be shut down.

Thus, most of the farmers have lost confidence to cultivate shallots in large quantity. Most of them are yet to decide whether to take up the cultivation of shallots, whereas only a few have taken up cultivation as of now.