Sambalpur: Unseasonal rain, followed by hailstorm, led farmers of Deogarh district to a distress sale of onion.

Reamal block of the district has special significance for its onion cultivation in the state. This year, farmers of 60 villages of Reamal, Tinkbir, Malehipada, Taranga, Tuhilamal, Budhido and Naulipada gram panchayats of Reamal block had taken up onion cultivation.

As the climate was favourable, farmers had taken seeds from the agriculture department and used timely compost. The production was good and the time was fast approaching for a good yield. But, the repeated unseasonal rain and hailstorms played spoilsport.

"We are forced to sell onion at Rs 4 to Rs 5 per kg. We have to dispose it as quick as possible as it is not possible to protect the damaged onion for a longer period," said Khageswar Bag of Timur village.

"Besides, there is no market to sell our product."

Another farmer of the same village, Rabi Sahu, said: "I was forced to leave half of my onion in the field as it was not in a condition to harvest."

Almost all of the farmers are in a distress condition and passing through mental depression, they said, adding that many had incurred loan from various banks and some of them even availed themselves of hand loan for onion cultivation.

"Onion is such a vegetable that it makes the consumer cry when sold at higher prices. Now, the distress sale of it is making the cultivators cry in our state," said a 75-year-old farmer, Jogendra Barik of Tinkabir village.

Deogarh collector Purna Chandra Pathy said: "The agriculture department would conduct field study to assess the loss, and it is also making efforts to purchase onion from the farmers at a reasonable price through the Odisha Rural Products Marketing Society to sell it in Sambalpur and Bhubaneswar."