Why are Maharashtra onion farmers asking for Rs 1 lakh per acre compensation?

This year, Maharashtra registered 1007 per cent of normal rainfall in May. As against the 14.4 mm of normal rainfall, Maharashtra had received 159.4 mm of rainfall last month. In the onion belt of Nashik-Pune-Ahilyanagar, the rainfall has been exceptionally heavy. Nashik had received 747 per cent of its normal rainfall, whereas Pune and Ahilyangar received 948 per cent of their normal rainfall.

Rainfall in May, although not unusual, happened at a time when onion harvesting got delayed, leading to greater losses. Farmers had trouble arranging for labour due to the high temperatures in April, otherwise, the crop could have been harvested after March.

At present, wholesale onion prices at the Lasalgaon market in the Nashik district are ranging between Rs 1,100-1,200/quintal. These prices, farmers said, do not even meet the cost of production, which is almost Rs 2,000/quintal. “Farmers who sold their onions at throwaway prices must be compensated,” Dighole said.

In order to help farmers get better prices, the Centre has asked the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) as well as the National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF) to commence procurement of onions. “The base price for this procurement must be Rs 2,000/quintal so that the wholesale market prices rise,” Dighole argued.