In just the last couple of years, Bhaskar Dhoke, a farmer-cum-literature professor at Pune University, has reduced onion cultivation on his farm by around 20 percent. He has filled up the space with the 'less risky,' horticulture crops, in particular pomegranate and tomatoes. "Earlier we could depend on the onion (despite being a seasonal crop) all through the year. Today, that’s not the case. Farmers are looking for alternatives,” said Dr. Dhoke.
Onion production is not always profitable for farmers owing to certain risks associated with it. National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation data shows that between 2008-13 farmers sold more than a third of their onions at a price below their cost of production, incurring losses for most of the year. On the other hand, during the same period, the cost of input material for farming took a huge jump. While the cost of seeds shot up by around 300 percent, fertilizers, weed killers and insecticides also became expensive. Owing to a hike in diesel prices, transportation costs swelled too.
In Maharashtra, the miserable situation for farmers was compounded by late rainfall and the onslaught of hailstorm in the previous season. The State declared that around 30 percent of the crops were damaged due to hailstorm.
Deepak Adangle, a farmer, estimated his losses due to hailstorm damage as Rs. 2.5-3 lakh. However, he had to contend with a paltry sum of Rs. 1,500 as compensation. "What option am I left with?" he asks disparagingly.
“It’s an insult in the name of compensation. The rules for compensation clearly belong to some other era,” said Nanasahib Patil, chairman of Agricultural Produce Market Committees at Nashik’s Lasalgaon Mandi--Asia's largest wholesale market for onions. According to his estimates, the damage per acre incurred due to the hailstorm comes to around Rs 27,000.
The farmers’ hopes of recovering the losses were further dented when the Centre recently decided to include the bulb into the essential commodities list. This led to a plunge in onion prices. With no Minimum Support Price declared for onion, farmers are compelled to sell at prices lower than their costs.
Considering the risks involved in onion production and threat of heavy losses, farmers in Maharashtra’s onion belt, in particular Nashik, are gradually reducing onion cultivation or shifting to other ‘less-risky’ crops. As alternatives to onion, farmers grow Maize in Rabi season while they can grow Tomato or Maize in Kharif season, says Shantanu Patil, an agriculturalist. Horticulture crops like pomegranate, grapes and sugarcane can also be grown in the region even though due to scarcity of water during summer these crops cannot be considered as an alternative to onion, he says. Only big farmers can afford to grow grapes.
Maize requires only 60% of water per area compared to onion, is less labour intensive and less climate sensitive. "The government has declared MSP of Rs.1310 for Maize. Maize can give assured profit of around 10-12k per acre. Though this profit is less, but as it is assured, farmers are thinking this as the best alternative for onion," Shantanu Patil says.
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