Onion farmers stage agitation at Chandwad APMC to protest drop in wholesale prices

Nashik: Onion farmers on Monday staged an agitation at the office of Agriculture Produce Market Committee at Chandwad in the district to protest the continuous drop in average price of wholesale onion over the past few days. Some farmers also went on a hunger strike on the premises of Chandwad APMC, seeking minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 3,000 per quintal for onion, a grant of Rs 1,500 per quintal to onion farmers who sold their produce below the cost of onion production in the last six months and incentives for boosting onion export. According to APMC officials, the average wholesale onion price has declined from Rs1,500 per quintal around three weeks ago to Rs1,000 per quintal. While the minimum prices are around Rs500 per quintal, the maximum wholesale onion prices are around Rs1,300 per quintal. According to Maharashtra State Onion Farmers Association, the cost of production of onions is around Rs1,800 per quintal, and farmers incur heavy financial losses if they receive prices below that. The average wholesale onion prices have been less than the cost of production, and farmers are incurring financial loss as they are not even able to recover even the production cost. Hence, the govt should provide a grant of Rs 1,500 per quintal to farmers who have sold their produce below production cost in the last six months, said Bharat Dighole, president, Maharashtra State Onion Farmers Association. Presently, onions arriving at the APMCs in the district are of late kahrif onions, which have a shelf life of less than a month. Hence, farmers have no option but to sell the produce at the prevailing market rates. At Lasalgaon APMC, arrivals of onions have increased during last few days and it is in the range of 25,000 to 30,000 quintals a day. On Monday, the average whoelsale onion price at Lasalgaon APMC was recorded at Rs 1,100 per quintal. The minimum and maximum wholesale onion prices were recorded at Rs 500 and Rs 1,372 per quintal, respectivley. Around 30,814 quintals of onions were auctioned at Lasalgaon APMC on Monday.