Onion bumper crop overwhelms Saurashtra

Bhavnagar/Rajkot: With the bumper onion crop flooding market yards in the Saurashtra region, respective committees of market yards have appealed to farmers not to bring onions for sale over the next three to four days.

While the Bhavnagar market yard is glutted with 3.40 lakh bags of onions (50 kilogram per bag), there is at least a five kilometre-long queue of trucks and tractors awaiting their turn outside the market.

A similar situation has also been observed at the Gondal market yard in Rajkot. It received 1.25 lakh bags of onion with more farmers in the queue looking to unload their harvest.  

Bhavnagar Market Yard chairman Narubhai Ahir told First India, “There was a bumper harvest of onion in the Rabi season.

In the Mahuva market, onions were traded at Rs500 for 20 kilogram because of pressure to sell from farmers.

If the farmers were open to waiting a bit, their produce could have fetched them a good price for the crop.

In the last season, the highest quote for onions went up to Rs700 for 20 kilogram.”

The Bhavnagar market yard’s daily trading capacity is 50 to 60,000 bags and it has received 3.40 lakh bags.

We have rented more godowns to store the farmers’ harvest but trading is going to be a problem since the yard is short-staffed, he added.

Ahir has demanded that the state government immediately operationalize the Ghogha and Sihor market yards.

“If that happens, then neither the farmers will have to cease bringing in their produce to yards for three to four days nor will they have to pay transport waiting charges,” he said. (First India Bureau)