Comments
Farmers halted onion auctions at Nashik Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) yards on Thursday, demanding a minimum ₹2,410 per quintal matching the current procurement price of the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed).
As a result of the farmers’ boycott of auctions, the inflow of onions at all 15 APMCs in Nashik was meagre. Though Nafed has begun procuring onions, only a few centres have been opened for farmers to sell to the cooperative agency. Also as traders had boycotted auctions for three days, stocks had piled up resulting in prices being quoted lower.
Following a three-day boycott by traders, the average price of onions in Nashik witnessed a significant decline. At Lasalgaon, Asia’s largest onion market, only 2,300 quintals of onions were auctioned at a modal price (the rate at which most trades take place) of ₹2,050 per quintal, with the lowest rate recorded at ₹900 per quintal. In Pimpalgaon Baswant, 7,200 quintals of onions entered the market, with the lowest rate being ₹700 and the highest reaching ₹2,000 per quintal. Normally, Nashik district sees a daily auction of over 1.5 lakh tonnes of onions.
Issue warning
Farmers were dissatisfied with the low prices offered when APMC markets opened on Thursday and chose not to participate in the auctions. Bharat Dighole, President of the Maharashtra State Onion Growers Association, said farmers were initially offered ₹1,500 per quintal for their produce, significantly lower than the ₹2,410 per quintal that Nafed is offering to procure for buffer stocks. Consequently, auctioning at all APMCs came to a halt on Thursday.
Farmers have issued a warning, stating that they will continue to boycott auctions until traders at least match Nafed’s rates. This supply shortage to Nashik APMCs could potentially impact the supply to other parts of the country.
In response to the escalating farmers’ protest, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expressed full support for the farmers. He said the State government has formally requested the Centre to increase the number of Nafed’s procurement centres in Nashik.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.