Thousands of local potato farmers switching over to garlic cultivation in the hope that they could recover the losses they incurred from the low potato prices. Garlic prices have fallen by almost 90 per cent as compared to last year. Usually sold at Rs 5,000-7,000 a quintal, the crop is now hardly fetching Rs 700, leaving no option for the peasants but to migrate to cities or commit suicide. Garlic, a dietary supplement, is used in tablets and capsules and in fluid extracts. Today, garlic is one of the best-selling botanical remedies in the US and Europe and various medicine manufacturers export it to the West.
Last year, garlic fetched good profits, so peasants cultivated large areas under garlic. The crop registered good harvest this year due to favourable weather conditions, but the abysmal market rates have spoilt all the hopes nurtured. The wholesalers and middlemen are not willing to procure the harvest even for Rs 400 a quintal, forcing a loss of at least Rs 600 a quintal on the overdrawn peasants.
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