Hubli: Farmer Bharamappa Pujar, 48, of Ibrahimpur in Navalgund taluk has sold his onion crop for merely Rs 300 a quintal. Although he spent nearly Rs 15,000 per acre to cultivate it, he has earned Rs 3000 an acre as a consequence, leaving him looking at a huge loss.
Like most farmers in North Karnataka, Pujar had to dump huge quantities of the onions from his fields as they were partially damaged in the recent heavy rain and his pleas for compensation have gone unheard although he has been staging a sit-in dharna for over a week, braving the heavy rain, before the deputy commissioner’s office in Dharwad.
His plight is shared by thousands of farmers in North Karnataka , who are rushing to sell their onion produce in the wholesale market fearing further damage to their standing crop from the heavy rain.
Smelling an opportunity, middlemen are fishing in troubled waters and buying onions at a very low price and selling them for more in the retail market.
Angered by the price crash, farmers have intensified their agitation in districts like Dharwad, Haveri, Bagalkot and Gadag and taken to the streets to demand a ban on import of onion , relaxation of norms for its export and a minimum support price for their produce.
