Onion prices swing wildly. Is it still worth growing onion as a main crop?
Is onion (pyaaz) farming profitable in Maharashtra despite price crashes?
AAnil9mo ago · 354 views
5 Answers
🌾Farmer.in Krishi TeamExpert ✓9mo ago
Onion can be profitable but it is a high risk, high reward crop because prices are very volatile. The keys to making money are storage and grading, not just yield. Rabi onion that you can cure and store in a chawl lets you avoid the harvest glut and sell when rates recover later in the year, which is where most profit comes from. Spread your risk by selling in lots, growing across kharif and rabi rather than one big lot, and producing dark red, single centred bulbs that fetch premiums. Costs that hurt are seed, labour for transplanting and harvest, and storage losses. Crops sold straight at harvest into a glut often barely cover cost, so plan for storage and watch Agmarknet trends before selling.
NNitin9mo ago
In a good year onion paid for my whole season; in a crash year I lost money on the lot I sold fresh. The stored lot saved me. Storage is everything with onion.
GGanpat9mo ago
Do not put your whole farm under onion. I keep onion as one part and grow other crops too, so a price crash hurts but does not wipe me out. Spreading across crops and across kharif and rabi is what keeps me steady.
VVilas8mo ago
Building a proper chawl was the best investment I made. The first few years I sold fresh and barely broke even. Once I could hold and sell over months, my average rate improved enough to actually make money on onion.
SShankar8mo ago
Caution on storage though, it is not free money. You still lose weight and some bulbs to rot over months, and a few years the later rate did not rise much. Hold only well cured, good keeping rabi onion and keep checking the trend before you sell.