Onion farmers stage rasta roko in Nashik

An onion farmer in Lasalgaon market, Nashik. A file photo: Amruta Byatnal

Angry farmers today staged a rasta-roko on the busy Mumbai-Agra national highway between Pimpalgaon Baswant and Chandvad in the district, blocking the traffic for over two hours, as they protested fall in onion prices.

The protesters, numbering around 500, demanded that ban on onion export be lifted, police sources said.

Prices of the onion, which were skyrocketing a couple of weeks ago, came down to as much as Rs 450/500 per quintal, at Pimpalgaon Baswant Market Yard, about 25 kms from here.

This sparked off a protest, sources said.

At Lasalgaon too, farmers hurled onions at passing vehicles.

Wholesale markets there could not open for trading in the morning due to the protest, but Agriculture Market Produce Committee sources said that auction of onions would take place later in the day as farmers have begun to bring onions to the market.

Changdevrao Holkar, Vice President, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) said that with the current prices, farmers won’t recover even production costs, and the ban on exports must be lifted.