With onion rates hovering around Rs 300 per quintal, frustrated farmers have begun dumping their produce, as it is costlier to take onion to the market. One such farmer committed suicide in Mukhed village of Yeola on Sunday.
On Tuesday, the rates in Lasalgaon Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) were a minimum Rs 300 per quintal, maximum Rs 951 and average of Rs 850 per quintal, APMC sources said.
National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) director Nanasaheb Patil said that there appeared to be no solution to the issue. “The total onion production in the country according to government figures is 203 lakh tons while I feel it’s 215 lakh tons. Similarly, the government states that there is an excess of 25 lakh tons but practically it appears to be 40 lakh tons. Farmers need waiver of loans,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Shetkari Sanghatna (farmers organisation) is organising a novel state-level protest in Yeola on June 2, during which women will stop vehicles at Vinchur Square on Nashik-Aurangabad Road and gift onions to the drivers.
With respect to the suicide, the Yeola police said that, Dnyaneshwar Dattarya Aher (32) hung himself to a rope tied to the rafter in his onion godown. Readers may recall that on May 21, three farmers from
Nifad, Malegaon and Satana tehsils of the district committed suicide as they were under stress over their inability to pay off loans and also due to water scarcity.
