Surge in onion prices benefitting only middlemen, not us: Farmers

While consumers are paying unusually high prices for onions – retail prices have risen as high as ₹150 per kilo – farmers in the state say they are earning less

While consumers are paying unusually high prices for onions – retail prices have risen as high as ₹150 per kilo – farmers in the state say they are earning less from onions than what they earned last year.

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Five districts in Maharashtra – Nashik, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Solapur and Pune – account for 50% of the onion production in the country. Earlier this week, HT visited Lasalgaon market in Nashik, which is the largest wholesale market for onions in Maharashtra. Farmers complained that much of their onion crop had suffered damage due to unseasonal rain and the benefit of high prices was being reaped by middlemen.

Dadasaheb Niphadkar, an onion grower from Satana tehsil, has earned ₹1,80,000 from his two acres of onion crop. He got ₹5,200 per quintal, which means ₹52 per kilo. In November 2017, Niphadkar had earned ₹3,65,000 from the same acreage even though prices were lower. “It is true that prices have gone up, but because of reduced production and incre-ased cost of cultivation, we are struggling to cover even our cultivation cost,” said Niphadkar.

At the APMC, onion farmers are getting a maximum of ₹60-70 for a kilo of their crop, if it is of good quality. Onion supply to Lasalgaon APMC dipped to 4,302 quintal (in 411 veh-icles) against an average of 22,000 quintal for this time of year.

“The supply situation has changed a lot. There is very little or no onion left with farmers. Unseasonal rainfall led to massive crop damage,” said Suvarna Jagtap, chairman, APMC Lasalgaon. She also said the crop quality arriving in the market was poor, which pushed up prices for onions of better quality onions. Onion prices increased to ₹75 per kilo in end-October from ₹30-35 per kilo in July.

According to experts, arrival of onions at APMC reduced by almost 50-60% this year as compared to 2018. Prices are expected to remain high till the late kharif onion crop is harvested in late January 2020. Agriculture sector analyst Deepak Chavan said, “Already the area under onion crops was reduced, considering last year’s onion rates. After that, unseasonal rain damaged the current plantation, which hampered production badly. As of now, APMC is facing more than a 50% shortage of onion.”

Director of National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation of India, Nashik, Nana Saheb Patil agreed that crop damage had negated any benefit that farmers may have got from high retail prices. Patil pointed out that though retail onion prices have crossed ₹160 per kg, farmers are forced to sell their produce in wholesale markets and the difference between wholesale and retail prices is significant. The entire profit does not reach the farmers, he said.

Some farmers alleged traders were hoarding onions, leading to a surge in retail onion prices. Followed these allegations, the state government issued a notification on December 1, bringing down the stock limit from 50 tonnes to 25 tonnes for wholesalers, and five tonnes for retailers in Maharashtra. District administrations have been given authority to look for illegally stored onions.

Namdev Sakore, an onion wholesale trader from Lasalgaon, denied the traders were benefiting from high retail prices. “The difference in wholesale and retail prices is 60% to 80%, but it includes transport, storage, handling cost and margin.”