With limited export opportunities, small onion farmers of Dindigul district are unable to get the right price for their produce.

The onion market in Dindigul operates thrice a week: On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Onions come from the northern and the central States, while shallots (small onions) are produced locally across Dindigul district. The prices are fixed on market days.

From the onion market, the produce is sent to the other parts of Tamil Nadu, neighbouring and other States and also exported to foreign countries. However, the farmers of Dindigul district said they were not getting the right price for their produce due to lack of export opportunities.

They said shallots were being sold at ₹40 per kg and in the retail market it was ₹50 per kg. This was much lower than what they had expected.

Rengasamy, a farmer from Gujiliamparai, said cultivating small onions on around one acre of land would cost around ₹1 lakh. The selling price was around ₹40 per kg. To fetch a profitable amount they would have to sell more than ₹50 per kg, he said. With the exports going down, the farmers were not receiving favourable prices, he said.

Marimuthu, a trader, said earlier shallots were being exported from Dindigul to other countries. However, due to a lack of demand in those markets, exports have come to a halt. Consequently, farmers were not receiving the right price for their produce, he said. He hoped that the present market situation would improve in the coming months.