The indefinite strike call given by All India Motor Transport Congress has come as a bane for onion farmers with the traders and private entities refusing to buy the stock resulting in piling up of stock in Kurnool Market Yard on Thursday. The prices crashed to Rs.28 as against Rs.36 a kg the previous day.
Irate farmers staged a demonstration in front of the market yard at Kurnool demanding support price to their produce. “What should we do with these stocks? Traders are not coming forward to buy. Where should we dump them now?” a farmer screamed.
Loads of onions are supplied from this market yard to different places both in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. While officials from the Marketing Department purchased stock for Rs.2,800 a quintal and dispatched it with the help of vehicles arranged by the Kurnool district administration in the wake of the truck stir, traders from private entities did not purchase owing to non-availability of vehicles.
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With the help of police, officials pacified farmers assuring that they would get good price once the strike is called off.
Kurnool District Marketing Department Assistant Director P. Satyanarayana Chowdhary said the stock was dispatched to different places in 17 vehicles. “We are leaving no stone unturned in ensuring sufficient supply of onion at Rythu Bazaars,” he said.