INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KOLHAPUR/NASHIK: Rajendra Tukaram Chavan, a 58-year-old onion farmer from Borgaon village of Barshi taluka in Solapur district, just
recently travelled 70km to the Solapur APMC to auction 512kg of onions he had actually gathered
He managed to sell the fruit and vegetables for simply Re 1 per kg
The deductions, Chavans net profit was hardly Rs 2.49 and he got the payment as a post-dated cheque for Rs 2, which he will be able to
encash just after 15 days
The 49 paise balance was not shown in the cheque as bank deals are usually in round figures
To declare this balance, Chavan will need to directly take it from the trader, but the farmer feels it is not worth the effort
I got Re 1 per kg for the onions
The APMC trader further subtracted Rs 509.50 from the overall amount of Rs 512 towards transport charges, head-loading and weighing charges,
a dejected Chavan stated, mentioning that he had actually handled to earn Rs 20 per kg in 2015
The rate of seeds, fertilisers and pesticides has actually doubled in the previous 3-4 years
I invested almost Rs 40,000 to grow just about 500kg of onions this time, he said.Explaining the reasoning behind providing a post-dated
cheque for Rs 2, Nasir Khalifa, the trader at the Solapur APMC who purchased the onions from Chavan, said, We have actually computerised
the process of providing receipts and cheques
As an outcome, Chavans cheque was post-dated
This is a typical practice no matter the amount on the cheque
We have issued cheques of such percentages earlier too
The onions brought for auction were of poor quality
Previously, Chavan had brought premium onions that were sold at Rs 18 per kg
He later on brought another batch, which fetched him Rs 14 per kg
Low-quality onions are generally not in demand, said Khalifa, the owner of Surya Traders
The cheque was released by among his relatives from whose checking account Surya Traders-related transactions are done.According to experts,
farmers do not get more than 25% high-quality produce
Roughly 30% of the fruit and vegetables is of medium quality and the staying is low grade.A bumper onion crop in Maharashtra and all other
onion-producing states has actually sent out wholesale rates crashing
Across the state, farmers like Chavan are spectical of even recovering their production expenses
Wholesale onion rates at Nashiks Lasalgaon APMC, the countrys largest onion mandi, have dropped nearly 70% in the past two months.However,
farmers have no choice however to sell the fruit and vegetables at the prevailing rates because the shelf-life of the late kharif onions is
Afterwards, the produce starts rotting
Given that all the farmers bring their crops to the market, there is a glut.The volume of onions arriving at the Lasalgaon market, which was
around 15,000 quintal a day in December, has actually now doubled to 30,000 quintals a day
The average wholesale onion rates at Lasalgaon dropped from Rs 1,850 per quintal on December 26, 2022, to Rs 550 per quintal on February 23,
It is the exact same story throughout the state
Kedar Umbaraje, the Solapur APMC director who is likewise an onion trader, said: The day the Barshi farmer brought his onions, the APMC was
flooded with 12,000 bags of onion
A couple of weeks back, the Borgaon gram panchayat wrote to the state government seeking its intervention
The letter likewise sought compensation for the losses incurred by onion growers and an assured cost for the produce in future
The gram panchayat members, the majority of them farmers themselves, threatened to immolate themselves if their issues were not dealt with
Two weeks on, they are yet to receive any interaction from the government.Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana chief Raju Shetti too desires
How is the government going to stop farmers, who are not getting a good rate for their produce, from ending lives? We demand that the
excess onions be exported
In the name of controlling inflation, the government is taking actions that are pushing farmers further into distress, he said.In a
recognition of the issue, Union minister of state for health and family welfare Bharati Pawar, who is an MP from Dindori, Nashiks onion
growing belt, composed to Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal prompting him to guarantee that National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing
Federation of India Ltd (Nafed) increases onion procurement to help stabilise the wholesale costs
Nashik district guardian minister Dada Bhuse too is pinning hopes on Nafed
He said the state federal government will ask for the main government company to start obtaining onions from the farmers.
