Radostów farmer offers onion self-harvest to prevent crop destruction

A farmer in Radostów, Lower Silesia, is appealing to the public to help harvest hundreds of tons of white onions to prevent the crop from being destroyed. Tomasz Wilk reports that between 350 and 400 tons of onions remain on his eight-hectare field and must be collected by early September.

The farmer faces a significant economic crisis as local wholesalers have offered only 18 groszy per kilogram, a price that fails to cover the approximately 16,000 PLN production cost per hectare or the expenses for harvesting and transport. Wilk attributes the market downturn to an influx of cheap onions imported from the Netherlands, where producers are clearing warehouses of older stock.

To avoid plowing the field and destroying the harvest, Wilk has initiated a self-harvest program, selling the onions directly to consumers for 1 PLN per kilogram. The vegetables have already been dug up, so participants only need to bring their own bags and gloves. While residents from nearby areas like Jelenia Góra and Bolesławiec have begun arriving, only a few tons have been collected in the last two weeks.