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The Rajasthan government has sought the Centre’s approval to initiate measures to help onion farmers in the State who are reeling from the effect of a production glut.
“We have written to the Centre for permission to take up market intervention and are waiting for approval,” Rajasthan Agricultural Minister Prabhu Lal Saini told BusinessLine on Thursday. There are reports that onion farmers in Jodhpur were forced to sell the bulbous crop at prices as low as ₹2/kg as the bumper harvest this year proved a problem of plenty. This year, farmers in Jodhpur cultivated onion over a record area of 24,000 hectares, yielding more than 3.6 lakh tonnes.
“We understand their problem. There is a bigger problem in Sikar district, which has a much larger area under onion cultivation,” said Saini.
Unlike the Nasik variety, onions grown in Rajasthan are easily perishable. “We have decided to give assistance and subsidy for onion farmers to build storehouses to keep their produce till they find buyers. These storage facilities, made of bamboo, allow air to pass through and thus can prevent the crop from rotting,” the Minister said.
The writer visited Jaipur on an invitation from the Rajasthan government
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