By, Naysa Shrivastava
Pune: Onion farmers in Junnar and Shirur have received a monsoon present, but it is not one that they had wished for. Weeks of excessive, unseasonal rain have ruined almost half of their stored onions, leaving the farmers in critical financial trouble.
Each year, farmers harvest and store onions with great care, expecting to sell them at improved prices in the monsoon when demand traditionally falls. This year, though, their expectations have been shattered. Prices remained locked in the ₹1,200–₹1,500 per quintal band, and now, due to rains ruining big quantities, farmers are faced with rising losses.
“Nearly 50% of my dried onions are spoiled. I was unable to dry them due to constant rain,” lamented Alkesh Kashid, a farmer from Junnar, his voice laced with concern. In storage sheds across the board, the same picture—mountains of onions burnt and decaying, with little hope of revival.
Experts note that onions are extremely sensitive to humidity. Without ventilation and occasional drying, storage piles soon become damp, and rot propagates rapidly. “Once the process starts, there’s no stopping it,” said an agriculture department official.
For small and medium farmers, the hit is hardest. They had invested in storage space, hoping for better market rates later in the season. “With increasing input prices and now this loss, planning the next crop cycle seems impossible,” said farmer activist Shantaram Sarvade from Khed tehsil.
Farmers’ associations are now demanding immediate government action—recompense for their losses and measures to bring about onion price stability. The biggest onion-producing state, Maharashtra, is particularly at risk of ripple effects, which have the potential to affect the country’s supply chain if farmers are not supported.
For farmers, the concern isn’t so much today’s loss, as that of survival tomorrow. Without timely support, many fear this season’s crisis will set them back so financially that they won’t be able to farm anymore.
The onion, a commoner in the kitchen, conceals beneath it the toil and sweat of thousands of farmers. This season, persistent rains have not only ruined fruits and vegetables—they’ve rattled livelihoods.