Onion farmers suffered losses of Rs 1,336 crore in 2016-17
PUNE: Onion farmers suffered losses of Rs 1,336 crore in 2016-17 as prices fell more than half from the previous fiscal amid a 21% increase in production.

The all-India arrival of onion between April 2016 and March 2017 was 9.33 crore quintals, up from 7.71 crore quintals in the previous fiscal, according to the data with the National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation.

Trade veterans said that an increase in plantation area coupled with excellent weather conditions led to a bumper increase in per acre productivity of onions.

Although the arrivals increased just over a fifth, average onion prices fell 52% to Rs 7.66 per kg from Rs 15.8 per kg in 2015-16.
Even the spurt in exports, which are set to touch record levels, driven by bumper production, failed to support farm gate prices.

At Rs 5.53 per kg in April, the average wholesale onion prices at the benchmark Lasalgaon agricultural produce market committee in Maharashtra’s Nashik district, onion prices are at a five-year low.

Source: ECONOMIC TIMES