With more production of onion and less facilities for storage and marketing, farmers of western Odisha are forced to sell their produce to neighboring Chhattisgarh at much lesser prices, thanks to the callous aproach of the Odisha State Agriculture Marketing Board (OSAMB).
Odisha onions are being procured by Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh traders in an organised manner, but the OSAMB is still to rise to protect farmers’ interest, said Dhenu Kharia, a onion farmer of Kalahandi.
While farmers in Kalahandi, Nuapada and Koraput are producing more and more onions, benefits are reaped by Chhattisgarh traders, alleged Kharia.
While onion prices touch Rs 45 per kg in retail market during off-season in the State, the OSAMB hardly takes any step to help farmers and stabilize the price, admit senior officials in the Directorate of Horticulture.
Farmers are forced to sell onion at throwaway prices in absence of storage and marketing facilities, admit officials.
Odisha needs at least 4 lakh metric tonne of onion per annum to meet its internal requirement and the State is producing 3.95 l MT now.
Cold storage facilities are poor as, out of 115 cold storages, only 35 with storage capacity of 1.68 lakh MT operational now. So, more production of onions is of no help to people of the State and it is forced to import onion from neighboring States to an extent of 2.5 lakh MT.
Though farmers of Kalahandi, Koraput, Sambalpur and Kandhamal districts have reaped a bumper crop this year, yet they would sell it to Chhattisgarh traders at lesser prices as the Odisha Government doesn’t buy onion from them at fair prices.
Chhattisgarh traders are advancing money to farmers before harvest and taking procuring onion at Rs 4 or Rs 5 per kg, alleged Sunil Bhatra, another farmer in Nuapada.
While the State Government has announced an Onion Mission to support farmers, it is likely to take the route of Potato Mission, which has so far failed to achieve its targets.