Maharashtra Farmers Halt Onion Auction at Lasalgaon APMC Due to Price Drop

The price of an onion per kilogramme dropped from Rs 2 to Rs 4, infuriating the growers. A representative of the onion growers stated that the government should immediately declare a grant of Rs 1,500 per quintal of onions and purchase their produce at Rs 15 to Rs 20 per kg, or else the auction at the Lasalgaon APMC in Nashik district will be cancelled.

Onions fetched a minimum price of Rs 200 per quintal, a maximum price of Rs 800 per quintal, and an average price of Rs 400-450 per quintal as soon as the auction process began as the market opened for the week on Monday. As a result, angry farmers led by the Maharashtra Rajya Kanda Utpadak Sanghatana halted onion auctions and began an agitation.

On Saturday, 2,404 quintal onions arrived at the APMC, with prices ranging from Rs 351 to Rs 1,231 and an average of Rs 625 per quintal.

"During the ongoing Budget Session of the state legislature, the government should immediately declare Rs 1,500 per quintal grant for onions and purchase the produce, being currently sold for Rs 3,4, 5 per kg, at a price of Rs 15 to Rs 20 per kg.

If these two demands are not met today, the onion auction at Lasalgaon APMC will not take place," said Bharat Dighole, leader of the Maharashtra Rajya Kanda Utpadak Sanghatana. Meanwhile, the officials involved were meeting to resolve the issue, according to APMC sources. According to them, the auction could begin in the afternoon after a discussion with the agitators.

Earlier this month, a farmer in Maharashtra's Solapur district was shocked to learn that he made only Rs 2.49 on the sale of his 512 kg onions to a trader in the district. The farmer, 63-year-old Rajendra Chavan of Solapur's Barshi tehsil, stated that his onion yield fetched a price of Re 1 per kg at the Solapur market yard, and that after all deductions, he received this pittance as his net profit.