Storage shortage hits Karnataka’s onion farmers, may spike prices for consumers in lean season
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Hubballi: A shortage of adequate storage facilities in Karnataka is taking a toll on onion farmers, who are unable to secure fair prices for their produce, while consumers face inflated prices during the lean season.
Karnataka, the country’s second-largest onion producer after Maharashtra, boasts an average annual output of 38.91 lakh tonnes. However, the lack of central storage facilities discourages farmers from growing onions as a rabi or summer crop, despite this being the optimal season for cultivation due to reduced risk of onions catching diseases and better shelf life, as reported by Deccan Herald on Sunday.
On an average, Karnataka can store only 3.75 lakh tonnes of onion in its central storage facilities. “In spite of favourable conditions for onion cultivation, we are unable to meet the demand and Maharashtra is benefiting from this,” DH quoted B. Ravi Shankar, Secretary of the Potato-Onion Merchants’ Association, Bengaluru, as saying.
He stressed the need for at least one large storage facility, with a 10,000-tonne capacity, in every district. Such infrastructure, he argued, would encourage more farmers to grow onions during the rabi season and regulate prices during the lean period between October and November.
The dry regions of Karnataka like Vijayapura, Gadag, Ballari, Koppal, Dharwad, Belagavi, Chitradurga and Kolar are some of the major onion growing districts in the state. However, these districts lack large storage facilities.
Meanwhile, onion prices have decreased across APMCs in Karnataka due to a bumper yield this year. In Bengaluru, wholesale prices are ranging between Rs 14 and Rs 21 per kg, while retail prices hover around Rs 25 to Rs 28. On an average, onions are priced at Rs 40 a kg, and can spike to Rs 100 during the lean months.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
