Flash stir by traders irks onion farmers

However, traders, sore with the State government’s decision to force them to pay brokerage, weightment and handling charges of agricultural produce bought by them, boycotted the auction. Also, unlike on earlier occasions, they had not issued the APMC any prior notice.

The sudden boycott annoyed the farmers, some of whom had been waiting at the market yard since the last two days. As words spread, farmers queuing up with their produce went berserk, stoning the APMC office and vehicles on the Lasalgaon-Vinchur road.

The plummeting prices of onions over thelast month has already angered the farmers. In fact, wholesale prices at present range between Rs 250 and Rs 300 per quintal, bordering on the break-even level. Decline in the prices below this level has also triggered agitations in the past.

On March 9, onion farmers had blocked the Mumbai-Agra highway, when prices nosedived to Rs 250 per quintal, the lowest since July 1997. Traffic was thrown out of gear at Pimpalgaon-Baswant as about 1,200 tractor trailers had lined up for auction. The sudden fall in prices from Rs 400 to Rs 250 had infuriated the farmers.