With a dejected expression, Narhari Nagri stood next to a truck laden with 20 quintal of onions.
Having travelled all the way from his village to auction his produce at Lasalgaon Mandi — Asia's largest wholesale market for onions — it was another disappointing day for Narhari. He had to be content with a selling price hovering around Rs 14-15 per kg, much lower than he had desired. “That doesn't even cover the costs,” he pointed out in distress.
Onion cultivators in Maharashtra faced devastating losses this season due to crop damage by hailstorms. Things had only just begun to improve when the Central government recently decided to include onion in the essential commodities list.
The government purportedly took the step in a bid to check rising prices and clamp down on hoarding by traders as they now cannot stock more than a prescribed quantity. It, however, hampered farmers’ chances of recouping their losses as prices have fallen.
Since onion is perishable and tends to lose weight over time, and most farmers do not have adequate storage facilities, they have no option but to sell their produce at the drastically lower rates. The government had also hiked the minimum export price (MEP) of onions to $500 a tonne from $300 a tonne, making exports costlier. Though the government on Wednesday reduced the MEP to $350, farmers and traders in Lasalgaon see no relief and have staunchly opposed the government decisions. Some farmer groups, including cultivators and the Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC), in Lasalgaon have threatened to go on agitation if onion is not removed from the essential commodities list soon.
Nanasahib Patil, chairman of Lasalgaon APMC says there is no justification to include onions in the essential commodities list.
“But even after declaring onion an essential commodity, the government has not declared an MSP (minimum support price) for it. The first responsibility of the government should have been towards the producers,” he said. Mr. Patil has written to the Union and State agricultural ministries demanding the exclusion of onion from the essential commodities list and bringing down the MEP to zero.
The farmers and traders have also contested the government's plans to dismantle the APMCs and bring onions out of their purview. In the absence of a substitute system, a ‘farmer to consumer’ mechanism was not practical, said B.S Jadhav, a lawyer-cum-farmer. The APMCs, where the onions are auctioned, ensure competition and a better price for the farmers, he added.
Though the purpose of APMCs is to protect farmers from exploitation of intermediaries and traders, some analysts argue they do little for farmers’ interest.
But Mr. Patil does not agree. “The onions are supplied in bulk at the APMC. Farmers will not be able to go to distant markets in the country supplying onions in bulk to consumers,” said Mr. Patil.
