Frustrated by plummeting onion prices in wholesale and retail markets, farmers on Monday halted onion auctions at Lasalgaon, India’s largest wholesale onion market. The protest comes amid the Centre’s inaction on removing the 20% export duty imposed on the vegetable, which growers say has worsened their plight.
The agitation, led by the Shetkari Sanghatana and the Maharashtra State Onion Growers Association, saw farmers demanding immediate relief at the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Lasalgaon.
Bharat Dighole, a representative of onion producers, said, “If the government can impose restrictions on onion exports in a single day, why can’t they lift it when prices are crashing? Our production cost is around ₹2,500 per quintal, but we are getting rates below ₹2,000 per quintal.”
Farmers had hoped for an announcement from Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan during his recent visit to Nashik, but the minister remained silent on the issue. In December last year, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar urged the BJP-led Centre to remove the export duty and provide relief to onion farmers. Pawar had written to Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal, highlighting the challenges faced by growers in Nashik, one of India’s largest onion-producing regions.
Jaydutta Holkar, director, Lasalgaon and Vashi APMC, said, “Farmers are angry because the government hasn’t lifted the 20% export duty. With increased arrival of the crop, prices were bound to fall. Currently, around 25,000 quintals arrive daily at Lasalgaon, and the figure will rise in the coming days. Other APMCs in Nashik are also witnessing high arrivals.”
“Maharashtra onions are in high demand overseas. If the central government takes swift action, it will stabilise prices and help the market recover,” he said.
Onion farmer Sanjay Desle from Malegaon Taluka in Nashik district said, “The government’s policies are always against farmers. They interfere in agriculture, but don’t control input costs or prices of other consumables. During elections, they promised to remove the export duty, but now there’s no action.”
An onion expert from Nashik, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “If the central government removes the export duty, it will help change market sentiment. The current crop is perishable and has a short shelf life, unlike summer onions. With the removal of duty, while the export will not take place immediately, the move would stabilise prices in the domestic market.”
Sarla Sawant, a farmer from Nampur in Nashik, said, “Onion cultivation is becoming unviable. Labour rates are high, and input costs keep rising. If the government’s policies continue to harm us, what’s the point of farming? They only think of us during elections.”
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar has also raised the issue, urging farmers to intensify their protests if the Centre doesn’t act. Pawar recently brought the matter to the prime minister’s attention. Ajit Pawar also renewed his demand for the removal of export duty, writing to Union home minister Amit Shah last month.