Farmers seek 1,500 per quintal aid from state govt

Nashik: The continuous drop in the wholesale price of onions has kept the farmers worried as they are unable to recover the production cost and incurring heavy financial losses.The Maharashtra Onion Farmers' Association has demanded that state govt should immediately provide a grant of Rs1,500 per quintal to the farmers who have sold their produce at lower rates over the past four to five months. The association has also warned of launching a state-wide agitation if immediate relief is not provided.According to the farmers, the cost of onion production is around Rs1,800 per quintal and they incur heavy losses if prices fall below this level.Currently, the average wholesale price of onions at Lasalgaon APMC is around Rs1,000 per quintal. Only a small quantity of the produce is sold in the Rs1,000–Rs 1,500 range, while nearly 80% of the produce is being sold below Rs800 per quintal, resulting in significant losses.Bharat Dighole, president of the association, said although the average price is around Rs 1,000 per quintal across APMCs, most arrivals are traded between Rs400 and Rs900 per quintal. "Farmers are unable to recover even their production costs," he said. Market sources said around 1 lakh quintals of onions are traded daily across 13 APMCs in the district. Dighole reiterated the demand for a Rs 1,500 per quintal grant and warned of protests if the govt fails to act.Vikas Singh, vice-president of the Horticulture Produce Exporters Association of India, said onion exports have been hit due to geopolitical tensions between Iran and the US. "This has disrupted the export market, reduced demand and contributed to falling prices in domestic markets," Singh said.At Lasalgaon APMC, the average onion price on Monday was Rs1,100 per quintal with around 15,000 quintals traded. The minimum and maximum prices stood at Rs 500 and Rs 1,600 per quintal, respectively.At Pimpalgaon APMC, around 35,000 quintals were auctioned, with an average price of Rs 1,100 per quintal, and prices ranging from Rs 300 to Rs 2,300 per quintal.Rohit Pawar attacks govt over onion crisisNCP (SP) leader and MLA Rohit Pawar on Monday criticised the BJP-led Mahayuti govt for its alleged apathy towards onion farmers affected by falling prices. In a post on social platerfor X, Pawar said he will visit Lasalgaon APMC on May 18 to interact with the farmers and listen to their issues.