Dear all
I am posting an old news for your perusal.As a working journalist I have covered on many issues and on diffren tcrops including on onion.Today to write an article I searched my blog andcould not find thedesired story on onion .As i searched my mail i gotthis story and I am posting this old story on onions for your perusal
Yours
Sudhir Mishra/Pioneer/Balangir
=========================
BHUBANESWAR | Wednesday, April 27, 2011 | Email | Print | | Back
Rain brings tears to onion growers’ eyes in Balangir
April 27, 2011 12:27:14 AM
Sudhir Mishra | Balangir
I am posting an old news for your perusal.As a working journalist I have covered on many issues and on diffren tcrops including on onion.Today to write an article I searched my blog andcould not find thedesired story on onion .As i searched my mail i gotthis story and I am posting this old story on onions for your perusal
Yours
Sudhir Mishra/Pioneer/Balangir
=========================
BHUBANESWAR | Wednesday, April 27, 2011 | Email | Print | | Back
Rain brings tears to onion growers’ eyes in Balangir
April 27, 2011 12:27:14 AM
Sudhir Mishra | Balangir
Though the recent rain of the summer brought
respite to the denizens
reeling under the blistering heat, yet it ruined the small and marginal
farmers of Balangir district whose onion crop was damaged forcing them
for its distress sale.
The onion crop grown in the Maal land this year suffered huge losses in
the recent rains. The farmers dug it out earlier then due time since
they feared that the crop might rot inside the wet soil if not
harvested.
Once the crop gets wet in rain it cannot be stored for long days.
Moreover, wet onions cannot be kept in one place as it would rot, nor
can they be stored in polythene bags too. If the purchasing agents do
not turn up within a few days of the onions harvested, it causes
headache to the farmers, said an onion grower Bhajaram Sahu.
The onion is a 100-110 days crop which is grown in Attland, Mal Land
and Bahal land usually. It is widely and extensively cultivated in the
entire Titilagarh sub division including, Muribahal, Bongomunda and
Titilagarh. These areas are migration-prone as a lot of poor farmers
and landless labourers move to outside States in search of daily bread
every year. The onion is usually cultivated by the small and marginal
farmers.
The onion sells at `5 to `6 per kg in Bongomunda area. However, the
farmers have to go for distress sale for various reasons like poor
economic condition, absence of proper storage space and natural
calamities etc.
As the farmers are poor they usually purchase seed and other things on
loans from local moneylenders and they commit to pay back the loan in
terms of certain amount of their produce fixed by the money lender.
This results in distress sale of the crop. Besides when most farmers do
not have well-furnished houses to stay, it is futile to expect them to
store the crop and wait for a time they get suitable prices. Rather,
the farmers sell the crop directly from the field through the agents.
Even though onion is one of the major cash crops which provides ‘direct
benefit to the small and marginal farmer’, yet its potentiality in
Balangir district has not been tapped, thanks to Government apathy,
absence of storage facility and minimum support price to its growers.
There are few civil society organisations or farmers’ organization
which stand by the onion growers and make lobby for their benefit. As
the onion crop is highly vulnerable to damage by rains and hailstorms
there should be an insurance cover so that poor farmers can be
compensated. Besides, the much-hyped onion dehydration plant should be
set up near Titilagarh, opined a few farmers.
=======================================================================
===
reeling under the blistering heat, yet it ruined the small and marginal
farmers of Balangir district whose onion crop was damaged forcing them
for its distress sale.
The onion crop grown in the Maal land this year suffered huge losses in
the recent rains. The farmers dug it out earlier then due time since
they feared that the crop might rot inside the wet soil if not
harvested.
Once the crop gets wet in rain it cannot be stored for long days.
Moreover, wet onions cannot be kept in one place as it would rot, nor
can they be stored in polythene bags too. If the purchasing agents do
not turn up within a few days of the onions harvested, it causes
headache to the farmers, said an onion grower Bhajaram Sahu.
The onion is a 100-110 days crop which is grown in Attland, Mal Land
and Bahal land usually. It is widely and extensively cultivated in the
entire Titilagarh sub division including, Muribahal, Bongomunda and
Titilagarh. These areas are migration-prone as a lot of poor farmers
and landless labourers move to outside States in search of daily bread
every year. The onion is usually cultivated by the small and marginal
farmers.
The onion sells at `5 to `6 per kg in Bongomunda area. However, the
farmers have to go for distress sale for various reasons like poor
economic condition, absence of proper storage space and natural
calamities etc.
As the farmers are poor they usually purchase seed and other things on
loans from local moneylenders and they commit to pay back the loan in
terms of certain amount of their produce fixed by the money lender.
This results in distress sale of the crop. Besides when most farmers do
not have well-furnished houses to stay, it is futile to expect them to
store the crop and wait for a time they get suitable prices. Rather,
the farmers sell the crop directly from the field through the agents.
Even though onion is one of the major cash crops which provides ‘direct
benefit to the small and marginal farmer’, yet its potentiality in
Balangir district has not been tapped, thanks to Government apathy,
absence of storage facility and minimum support price to its growers.
There are few civil society organisations or farmers’ organization
which stand by the onion growers and make lobby for their benefit. As
the onion crop is highly vulnerable to damage by rains and hailstorms
there should be an insurance cover so that poor farmers can be
compensated. Besides, the much-hyped onion dehydration plant should be
set up near Titilagarh, opined a few farmers.
=======================================================================
===
 |
No comments:
Post a Comment