Onion price slump triggers rasta roko

Highway traffic was thrown out of gear from 10 am onwards. Vehicles had to be diverted to Dindori till 3.30 pm when the agitation was called off, following a joint meeting of traders and farmers representatives. Traders assured that they would not weigh onions again, after once being weighed by the market committee. The farmers had a longstanding complaint that the traders used to weigh again and show at least two kilos less in a quintal. It was also assured that once the onionswere bought, traders would not haggle over the grades of onions to reduce price.

At the Lasalgaon marketyard, prices remained steady at the Rs 450 per quintal. It is the second time that farmers from Pimpalgaon-Baswant have blocked the highway. It may be recalled that there was a glut from April to July last year compelling farmers to agitate. Two ministers of the Manohar Joshi cabinet were pelted with onions on June 12. The issue had also figured in the State legislature on July 9, when members of the Opposition had pelted onions at the treasury benches.

Later, the onion crop failed in November-December, pushing up prices to an unprecedented high of Rs 1,851 per qunital. The government had imposed a ban on onion exports from January 12, 1998 to control domestic prices. The late kharif crop flooded the market from mid-February reducing the prices in the range of Rs 500-600 per quintal. The export ban was lifted on March 4.