Farmers & traders hit as vegetable prices plunge at Belagavi APMC

Pic: A grower drops off produce at Belagavi APMCBelagavi: Vegetable prices have crashed at the Belagavi APMC market, forcing farmers and traders to dump large quantities of unsold produce in the yard. A sharp fall in demand, attributed to hotel closures, reduced consumption due to LPG shortages, ongoing West Asia tensions and a decline in exports to Goa, has resulted in supply far exceeding demand. Several hotels have either reduced their menus or shut down operations due to higher commercial gas cylinder prices, leading to a significant drop in overall market turnover. Vegetable arrivals from across Belagavi district and neighbouring Maharashtra continue, even as trade has been declining over the past two to three weeks.The market was in good condition for a week due to Ugadi and Ramzan festivals. The prices fell sharply after a week. The buying frenzy that was seen earlier in the APMC's wholesale vegetable yard has completely disappeared. Demand from hotels has dropped by 75%. Farmers have left radishes, tomatoes, carrots, cabbage and various greens in the market.According to APMC officials, onion exports have completely stopped and prices have fallen drastically. Onions were being exported to Kuwait and Dubai in large quantities. There is little chance of a price hike until exports resume.APMC officials informed that in the last two days, 11,000 quintals of red onions have arrived at the Belagavi market from neighbouring states. In the wholesale market, onions are being sold at a minimum of 500 to 1,500 per quintal. Before the war, they were sold at 2,500-3,500 per quintal.According to officials, 20,000 farmers grow onions in an area of 4,000 hectares, mainly in Ramdurg, Savadatti, Gokak, Hukkeri, Chikodi and Athani. Now that the harvest is done, it cannot be sent to the market due to the fall in prices. They are in a dilemma as they cannot even store it.It costs an estimated Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 per acre to grow onions. If the harvest is good, the yield per acre will be 5-8 tonnes, they said.Tyagaraja Kadam, a Raita Sangha functionary, said that the state and central govts should come to their aid by fixing a support price of Rs 4,000 per quintal of onion and buying it.Now, vegetable purchases are being made only for events such as weddings and fairs. Farmers are saying that the cost of transporting vegetables is a burden on them, and the profit they make is offset by the cost of sowing seeds, fertiliser and irrigation.Farmer leaders say that it is leading to a growing gap between demand and supply in the vegetable market. Govt should come forward to rescue the farmers, they said.