Onion Prices Cause Havoc Tamil Nadu

Heaps of onion were lying unsold with no takers in Coimbatore, Erode and parts of Dindigul districts in the state, according to N S Palanisamy, treasurer of 'Uzhaivar Uzhaipalar Katchi (peasant and toilers party).

The major demands put before both the central and state governments by the onion growers were to procure both small and large size onions through Nafed for Rs 6 and Rs 3.50 respectively and allow export with immediate effect.

Talking from Tirupur, Palanisamy said about four lakh tonnes of onions were lying in the open fields in Palladam, Pongalur, Udumalpet, Pollachi and Sultanpet in the district as there were absolutely no takers for the last couple of days.

Despite the assurances given by Prime Minister, commerce minister and top officials of Nafed to a 30-member delegation headed by party president Chellamuthu, which met them at Delhi some time ago, nothing had been done in this regard so far, he alleged.

The delegation had then suggested to allow onion export through OGL or facilitate private parties to participate in export, he said adding the government had turned a blind eye to the just demands of lakhs of farmers.

Grown in an area of one lakh acres in these belts, a farmer has to invest Rs 25,000 per acre for raising onions. Even after harvesting they have no proper storage facilities and they had to buy polythene sheets at double the prices to protect their produce from rains, Palanisamy said.

Nafed, which came forward to procure onions from farmers, when there was a shortfall and imported them last year, was also keeping quiet on the woes of cultivators, he said.

Saying that farmers had yet to receive money for their produce they had sold in the wholesale market, Palanisamy said even buyers were not willing to take onion at Rs 2 per kg now.

He wondered on the silence of many political parties, which had raised a hue and cry over the increase in the onion prices last year.

If the government failed to find a solution to the crisis by allowing export or fixing a procurement price in a day or two, the farmers would be forced to come out to the streets to get the demands conceded.