Onion auction in Lasalgaon APMC—country's largest APMC—in Nasik district of Maharashtra resumed on Tuesday after a 12-day protest by farmers.
The auction recommenced after traders agreed to make payments either in cash or by national electronic funds transfer (NEFT) to the farmers. The minimum rate of auction was Rs 300 a quintal while the maximum was at Rs 700 a quintal, with the average rate of auction at Rs 440 a quintal. Nearly 20,000 quintal onion was auctioned in Lasalgaon APMC on Tuesday.
The harvesting of Rabi onion crop in Nasik was a hope for thousands of farmers in the district. The Rabi sowing was done in the winter and the demonetisation caused drastic reduction in the land under cultivation as farmers didn't have cash in hand to buy seeds, fertilisers and pesticides. The kharif or summer harvesting was a bumper one due to good monsoon, but the farmers continued to suffer as the
traders didn't have cash to buy the crop and the cheque clearings took 30 to 45 days as the district co-op banks were not permitted to clear or disburse payments.
Balasaheb Holkar, secretary of Lasalgaon APMC said, “This season also started with traders refusing to pay in cash or by NEFT. They insisted on cheque payments but it takes nearly one-and-a-half month to get the payments cleared.”
The production cost of onion is Rs 1,000 per quintal and it is obvious that the farmers are suffering huge losses.
Dilip Mahale, a farmer from Niphad said, “After note ban, I managed to cultivate on only five acres of my 11 acre land as I didn't have cash to buy seeds and fertilisers. My entire family toiled 16 hours a day and today I can't recover even my production cost.” He also complained that traders form a ring and never let the prices be realistic as government never offers minimum support price for onion.
The distress is evident as the wholesale price of onion is Rs 4.50 per kg and the exploitation of growers and consumers is a reality as the retail price is at least three times the wholesale price. A new season of agrarian crisis is in the offing.
