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The farmers’ strike in Maharashtra entered the sixth day today, with prices of vegetables shooting up in various markets due to short supply.
Farmers have been on warpath since June 1 for demands including loan waiver and higher minimum support prices. Despite the government announcing a loan waiver for marginal farmers on Saturday, the agitation has continued.
In Pune’s Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), the inflow of vegetables and fruits was only about 50 per cent today, resulting in their prices going up by three to five times, sources said.
The workers of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna held protests outside the collector’s office in Sangli and 20 of them were taken into custody by police. “The rural economy has been affected in Nashik where apart from farmers, potters, tempo drivers and others working in allied fields are losing their jobs,” sources said.
“The daily business of around Rs 20-25 crore in 17 major APMCs in Nashik and other smaller market committees has come to a standstill. In Ahmednagar district, the inflow of vegetables was a mere 1 per cent and there was no milk collection, increasing the woes of the people,” they added.
Farmers locked the offices of Talathi (Revenue Officer) in some villages of Kolhapur and Nashik districts. In Ahmednagar’s Puntamba village, the agitating farmers threw vegetables outside the Divisional Commissioner’s office. In Amravati too, the protesters dumped vegetables outside the District Collector’s office. Police took into custody six workers of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna in Amaravati.
Meanwhile, sources said that the farmers’ strike in Maharashtra has benefited traders from Surat, Belgaum, Indore and Delhi as the Vasai-Virar region is witnessing an influx of agricultural produce from Surat. The Vasai-Virar region has several vegetable markets which usually get the produce from Nashik, Junnar and Vashi. The farmers’ strike has stopped the flow of vegetables from Maharashtra. “Truck drivers are scared of violent protests. Traders from Surat, Delhi, Indore and Belgaum have thus taken advantage of the strike, increased the prices and the inflow of vegetables in the Vashi APMC has increased by around 30 per cent,” an official from the Co-operatives Department said.
“From Vashi APMC, the produce gets distributed in the markets of Vasai-Virar. The prices of vegetables are fluctuating by around 15-20 per cent in most APMCs,” the official added.
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