Thousands of onion farmers in Gujarat’s Amreli and Bhavnagar districts are in distress due to a crash in prices, with onions being sold at just ₹25-30 for a bag of 20 kilos, way below the production costs.
In the last few days, angered by the government’s apathy, hundreds of farmers have thrown truck loads of onions onto the roads.
In the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, acreage under onion has increased with new areas being added. As a result, the State is witnessing a bumper crop which in turn led to a crash in prices.
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“More than 500 farmers of 10 village of my area threw their entire produce on the roads because of low prices. To produce 20 kg onion, a farmer invests more than ₹75-85 that includes inputs like fertilisers, water, seed and labour costs. Now, he gets only ₹25-30 per 20 kg,” Paresh Dhanani, the Congress MLA of Amreli told
According to him, more than 1.5 lakh farmers in Amreli and Bhavnagar districts have been affected by the fall in prices.
“I had planted onion in eight acres land. This year, we have bumper yield but no price. I will not recover even a third my investment. Same is the situation of thousands of farmers across this onion growing belt of Bhavnagar,” said Punjabhai Ahir, a farmer.
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He added that the government must fix a remunerative price of onion at ₹100 per 20 kg. Mr. Dhanani agreed and said, “Neither the State nor the Central government has done anything to help the farmers in distress.”