Even as farmers’ protests continue, onion trade normalises in APMC mandis in Gujarat

A farmer awaits auction of his onions in Dhoraji APMC mandi, in Rajkot district on Monday. Photo by Kishor Rathod

“Onion prices were on the downward curve in the recent past and now the government has imposed a ban on export. This has led to a crash in prices, affecting farmers directly,” the farmers said in their memorandum, adding that inflation has increased prices of inputs like seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and labour, resulting in higher cultivation costs.

“If onion prices don’t increase, farmers will be ruined, as the government has imposed a ban on exports right at the time of harvest… Due to the local climate, onion grown in Gujarat has a shorter shelf life and therefore, it can’t be stored for long…,” the memorandum said.

Farmers gave the SDM a bag of onions, requesting the official to send the bulbs to the agriculture ministers of Union and Gujarat governments and get the onions tested to ascertain their shelf life.

Pal Ambaliya, chairman of Gujarat Kisan Congress – the farmers’ cell of the party – accused Mohan Kundariya, Ramesh Dhaduk and Rajesh Chudasama, BJP MPs from Rajkot, Porbandar and Junagadh, respectively, of deceiving farmers.

“If their government is not listening to them, these MPs should resign… If they resign, we will be convinced that they indeed care for farmers. But they are not doing it. So, it appears that it is merely a drama to deceive farmers,” Ambaliya said in a statement.

Onion bags brought by farmers await auction in Mahuva APMC mandi, in Bhavnagar district on Monday. Express photo

Kundariya had said last week that he and the two fellow MPs had made a representation to the Union agriculture and farmers welfare minister on December 13 and that the minister had assured them that NAFED will procure onion from farmers at “good rates”.

Farmers, meanwhile, organised protests in Bhavnagar APMC mandi. Ashok Chauhan, in charge secretary of Bhavnagar APMC said, “However, we could auction 20,000 bags (each containing 40 kg of onion) brought to our yard by farmers.”

Onion trade normalised in Mahuva, Gondal and Rajkot AMPC mandis – the major onion wholesale markets in Saurashtra. “We recorded arrivals of 1 lakh bags of onions. They included around 78,000 bags of red onion and 22,000 bags of white onion. This is the highest amount of arrivals of onion this season in our mandi… We managed to auction all the bags,” Vishal Panchani, secretary of Mahuva APMC, said.

Farmers give a memorandum and a bag of onions to sub-divisional magistrate of Dhoraji, in Dhoraji town of Rajkot district on Monday. Photo by Kishor Rathod

“The highest price for red onion was Rs 2,150 per quintals (100 kg make one quintal) while modal price was Rs 1,500,” he added.

Onion prices had climbed to around Rs 3,500 to Rs 4,000 per quintal early this month due to low yields, following unfavourable weather and a robust overseas demand, especially from Bangladesh. A day after the Union government imposed a blanket ban on export, prices of onion in Gujarat, which is among major onion producers in India, crashed to around Rs 2,500 to Rs 2,000. This prompted farmers and traders to protest, which in turn, forced suspension of onion trade in APMC mandis.

In Gondal APMC in Rajkot, around 14,400 quintals (36,000 bags) of onion was auctioned on Monday. Rajkot APMC also saw arrivals of 11,000 bags of onions and all were auctioned. In Dhoraji, onion trade in the local APMC mandi remained normal even as farmers protested at the SDM office.