NASHIK: Overcoming various obstacles like expensive seeds, fertilizers, medicines, load shedding, labour shortage, vagaries of nature, and scorching heat, farmers produce onions for the consumers. Speaking of summer onions, during the last phase, due to water scarcity and rising heat, onion production has declined by 40 per cent.
These farmers aren’t receiving a satisfactory market price for their produced goods. As onion prices continue to fall, there are no signs of recovery of production costs. The government has completely ignored this critical situation, and the hard working farmers have become exhausted.
The production cost is rising following an increase in fertilizers, seeds, and other items’ prices. However, as the market prices are witnessing stagnancy, farmers are suffering from losses. To protest against the injustice being served to them, farmers staged a ‘rasta-roko’ agitation, but the government is still turning a blind eye to their needs.
Rising production costs and stagnant market prices in this inflating economy have put immense pressure on the farmers. According to the district’s Lasalgaon Agricultural Produce Market Committee, onions were sold at Rs 625 per quintal in April 12 years ago. Now, they are being sold at the same average this year. In the last 10 to 12 years, onions are being sold between Rs 600 to Rs 1000.
Despite a sharp rise in production costs, the price of agricultural commodities remains the same. Farmers are generating a revenue of half of their production cost and thus, facing severe losses. When the prices go high, the onion crop witnesses a shortage and vice-versa. The market committee used to purchase onions at Rs 6 to Rs 10 per kg. Even now, the committee is purchasing onions at a similar rate.
However, the production cost of onions has tripled in the last ten years. Earlier, the production cost touched Rs 20,000 per acre, and now, it hovers around Rs 70,00 per acre. Rising prices of fuel, pesticides, and fertilizers; have affected the production cost severely.
However, the price of selling the commodity remains the same. The fall in onion prices hasn’t stopped even after NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) is purchasing the cash crop. Onion growers have demanded a minimum price of Rs 2,500 per quintal and a subsidy of Rs 500 per quintal for onions sold earlier.
Social media agitation needed: Dighole
As the onion growers/farmers are witnessing a market price fall and agitations haven’t helped in waking up the unbothered political leaders, the farmers should comment on their social media posts and spam the photos, tweets, videos, on politicians’ personal accounts to aware citizens and force them to take action against the falling prices, stated Bharat Dighole, Founder President, Maharashtra State Onion Growers Association.
Onion rate in April (per quintal)
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2010 – 515
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2011 – 548
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2012 – 407
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2013 – 838
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2014 – 888
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2015 – 1093
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2016 – 779
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2017 – 409
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2018 – 670
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2019 – 873
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2020 – 850
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2021 – 800
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2022 – 1000
