5 paise per kg for onions in Nashik!

Nashik, August 25

A farmer from Karanjgaon village in Nashik district has claimed to have got the rate of 5 paise per kg for onions, prompting him to dump his produce of 13 quintals in his field in protest, even as a trader blamed “poor quality” of bulb for the low price.

Sudhakar Darade, who hails from Niphad taluka, said his onions got valued at Rs 5 per quintal (100 kg) at Saikheda sub-agriculture produce market committee (APMC) on Tuesday. He said his entire produce of 13 quintal was offered a rate of Rs 65 in total.

The distressed farmer said he incurred more than Rs 700 per acre for cultivating onions and paid Rs 780 towards transportation charges for bringing the produce to the APMC.

Upset over the valuation, Darade returned home and threw 13 quintal of onion in his field. Nashik district is known for production of red onions.

The onion market in Lasalgaon district is Asia’s largest wholesale APMC for onions. “I had cultivated onions on my 10-acre land in November-December last year. I stored around 1,000 quintals of onions at home, hoping that I will get good price in April.

However, auctioning of onions got severely affected due to the 35-day strike at APMCs during June-July, as a result of which onions perished,” he said.

However, sources at APMC said that condition of onions brought by Darade was bad and their size was small.

“Onions are currently auctioned at Rs 600-700 per quintal in APMCs, but farmers are bringing wet onion stock. On Tuesday, one farmer (Darade) brought onions for auction at Saikheda. However, most of his produce was wet and rotten. — PTI