Daijiworld Media Network - Hubballi

Hubballi, Apr 21: Despite being the country’s second-largest onion producer, Karnataka continues to face a persistent storage crisis that’s proving costly to both farmers and consumers. While onion prices have crashed this season due to a bumper harvest, lack of adequate storage facilities is forcing farmers into distress sales, even as retail prices soar during lean months.

Wholesale onion prices in Bengaluru have dropped to between Rs 14 and Rs 21 per kg, with retail prices hovering around Rs 25–28. Typically, onions are sold at an average of Rs 40 per kg, and prices spike to Rs 100 during the lean October–November period.

With an annual production of 38.91 lac tonnes, Karnataka follows only Maharashtra in onion output. Yet the state’s storage infrastructure is dismal—only 3.75 lac tonnes can be held in existing central facilities. Experts say this is discouraging small and marginal farmers from growing rabi and summer onion crops, which are high-yield and less prone to disease, and can be stored longer than the monsoon crop.

According to B Ravi Shankar, secretary of the Potato-Onion Merchants’ Association, Bengaluru, having at least one central storage facility with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes in every district would empower farmers to grow rabi onions and help stabilise prices during lean seasons.

“Even with favourable conditions for cultivation, Karnataka fails to meet internal demand. Maharashtra is stepping in to fill that gap,” he noted.

Dryland districts like Vijayapura, Gadag, Ballari, Koppal, Dharwad, Belagavi, Chitradurga, and Kolar are major onion producers. However, none of them is equipped with large-scale storage facilities.

Vijayapura horticulture deputy director Rahul Kumar B said that out of 55,000 onion farmers in the district, only 2,500 have personal storage sheds (25-tonne capacity) constructed under the National Horticulture Mission (NHM).

“With better storage access, production can definitely go up,” he added.

Dhananjaya, an onion farmer in Chitradurga, shared that his irrigated farmland is ideal for rabi onions, but due to lack of storage, he is forced to sell immediately after harvest. “Whatever I grow between February and May must be sold before the rains. Maharashtra’s supply makes competition stiff, leaving me with low returns,” he said.

At present, Bengaluru’s APMC receives over 41,000 bags (each 25 kg) of onions daily, primarily from Maharashtra. Karnataka-grown onions are traded at Rs 500–1,400 per quintal, while Maharashtra produce fetches Rs 900–1,500.

Despite these challenges, a senior horticulture official said the state is focusing on providing subsidised storage units for individual farmers through NHM and sees no immediate need for centralised storage expansion.

However, farmer groups argue that without long-term investment in storage infrastructure, Karnataka will remain dependent on imports from neighbouring states—and both growers and consumers will continue to pay the price.