NASHIK/PUNE: Dilip Suryavanshi has been cultivating onions all his life in the Nirpur village of Nashik’s Satana taluka. This year, though, his 10-acre land is lying vacant due to the drought situation.“We don’t have water to drink. The well in my farm has dried up following a poor monsoon. Last year, I had cultivated my entire 10 acres for summer onions. But I have not been able to grow onions on even one acre this time,” the 50-something Suryavanshi told TOI.Almost all farmers in Nirpur village are onion cultivators and their empty fields speak volumes. Several villages across the state have not even sown rabi onions, bringing down the overall cultivation till January 21 to 1.8 lakh hectares—the lowest in the past two years. Last year, 3.6 lakh hectares were under onion plantation.State agricultural department data shows that onion production is likely to dip to a five-year low in the coming months. Production of onions in the last rabi season of 2017-18 in the state was 61 lakh metric tonne. For the 2018-19 rabi season, it is likely to dip to 32.9 lakh metric tonne. Santosh Sahane, technical director, Vegetable Growers’ Association of India (VGAI), said, “The feedback from farmers in the state is that the area under onion cultivation this rabi season has dipped not only due to the drought but also because they were wary of sowing onions due to the present crash in prices . They have, therefore, shifted to growing other vegetables in whatever little water was available.”Any scarcity or shortage of summer crop from Nashik sends onion prices spiralling in “mandis” across the country. Nashik supplies onions to Mumbai, Gujarat, Delhi and most northern parts of the country.“Last year, I had sown onions on four acres. The drought has badly hit our summer onion cultivation this year,” said Bharos Ahire, a farmer from Nimbayati village in the district’s Malegaon taluka.Maharashtra has declared drought in 151 talukas. In Nashik district, drought has been declared in eight talukas. “Inadequate rain and water scarcity have led to the summer onion cultivation dropping to 84,000 hectares. The area under cultivation for summer onions has halved this year,” said Sanjiv Padwal, district agriculture superintendent officer, Nashik.

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