Nashik Onion Farmers Stage Protest, Stop Auctions Indefinitely Over Export Ban

Onion farmers blocked the busy Mumbai-Agra Highway at three places in Maharashtra's Nashik on Friday and decided to stop onion auctions in wholesale markets of the district indefinitely after the central government announced a ban on the export of the kitchen staple.

The central government has banned onion exports till March 31, 2024, to increase domestic availability and to keep prices in check.

The decision to stop auctions from Saturday onwards was taken at a meeting of the Nashik District Onion Traders Association in Chandwad during the day, a functionary said.

"The government should have given an ultimatum at least a week in advance before taking a decision on the export ban. All traders are now confused and have decided to stop auctions. They will resume when the trade regularises," Nashik District Onion Traders Association president Khandu Deore told PTI.

Earlier in the day, angry farmers stopped auctions at onion markets of Lasalgaon, Chandwad, Nandgaon, Dindori, Yeola, Umarane and other places in Nashik district, a major production centre of the commodity located around 200km from Mumbai, on Friday, an official said.

According to officials, auctions were not held at Lasalgaon Agriculture Produce Market Committee, but the exercise was conducted at Vinchur and Niphad sub-committees of Lasalgaon APMC.

On Friday, as many as 600 vehicles laden with onions arrived at Vinchur, while 422 vehicles with red onions and 61 vehicles with summer onions reached Lasalgaon APMC.

But farmers in Lasalgaon did not allow the auctions fearing a drop in market prices, the official said.

The minimum price was at Rs 1,500 per quintal, maximum at Rs 3,300 per quintal and Rs 2,700 per quintal average, they said.

Hundreds of cultivators gathered on the Mumbai-Agra Highway and blocked the road using tractors at three places for some time, the official said.

Farmers also staged 'rasta rokos' (road blockade) at Jaikheda, Chandwad, Umarane, Nandgaon and Mungse in Malegaon to protest against the Centre's move, he said.

Protestors dispersed peacefully after appeals by the Nashik police, and no force was used on the farmers, the official said.

Talking to PTI, Lasalgaon APMC chairperson Balasaheb Kshirsagar said, “The Centre’s decision is not in favour of farmers. Onion prices were not rising sharply and had come down in the last five to six days. This decision will cause losses to farmers and we demand a rollback.”

At present, the prices are Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 per quintal, though people are selling it at Rs 3,000 per quintal, he said, blaming middlemen for increasing the rates.

There should be no middlemen, and the government should decide to sell onions directly, he said.

Kiran Darade, a farmer agitating at Yeola, said, “The Union government imposed the export ban without any intimation or complaint. Farmers have suffered losses due to unseasonal rainfall and hail. Corn and onion crops have suffered. The ban should be revoked as soon as possible.”

Earlier in October, the Centre had decided to step up the sale of buffer onion stock at the subsidised rate of Rs 25 per kg in retail markets to provide relief to consumers.

To control prices, the government imposed a minimum export price of $800 per tonne on onion exports from Oct. 28 to Dec. 31 this year.

In August, India had imposed a 40% export duty on onions up to Dec. 31.

"At present, 9,000 to 10,000 quintals of onions arrive at the APMCs here every day. With the late Kharif crop also expected to arrive soon, the quantity would increase," the official pointed out.