Daijiworld Media Network: Chitradurga

Chitradurga, Dec 15: The skyrocketing onion prices have brought ‘tears’ in the eyes of the consumers. However, for a debt-ridden farmer in Doddasiddavvanahalli in Chitradurga district, growing onions has changed his fortune.

According to a report by the Times of India, Mallikarjuna, who reaped an onion crop of 240 tonnes (20 truckloads), became a crorepati in a month’s time. He had invested Rs 15 lac and hoped to make a profit of Rs 5 to 10 lac. However, with the onion prices shooting up to Rs 200 a kilo, he hit a jackpot.

"Growing onions was a risk. If the crop had failed or the prices had crashed, I would have been in trouble. When I sold onions in first week of November, the price was Rs 7,000 per quintal and in a few days it shot up to Rs 12,000 per quintal," he said.

Mallikarjuna has cleared his debts and is planning to buy a land to expand agriculture work and also build a house.

Since 2004, Mallikarjuna has been growing onions in rainy season. He owns 10 acre land and has hired 50 labourers. In 2018, he made a profit of Rs 5 lacs growing onions. Hence, this year he took a loan of Rs 20 lac to lease an additional 10 acre land.

Mallikarjuna who has became a local celebrity with his sudden fortune, tells media that protecting the crop from onion thieves was a big headache. He and his family took turns to guard the crop.

However, not all farmers have been so fortunate. According to data by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), farm profitability and growth has been weak across major food grains like rice, wheat, moong and tur, and recent increase in food prices has not resulted in rural wage growth.