Price of kharif onions slumps 30% at Lasalgaon, hits one-year low

Nashik: The average wholesale price of late kharif onions at the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Lasalgaon dropped sharply by around 30% -- from Rs1,100 around a month ago to Rs775 per quintal on Saturday (April 11) -- touching a one-year low.An APMC official, while talking to TOI, said the fall in prices is due to the rise in arrival of onions against relatively lower demand. "Reduced demand from international markets has also added pressure on the wholesale prices," the official said.In contrast, summer onions are currently fetching relatively better rates of around Rs1,100 per quintal at the Lasalgaon market. Farmers, however, said the prevailing prices continue to remain much lower than the cost of production, which they estimate at nearly Rs1,800 per quintal, thereby worsening their financial stress.Bharat Dighole, president of the Maharashtra Onion Growers Association, said wholesale onion prices have crashed across major markets resulting in heavy losses for the farmers."While the cost of onion production is around Rs 1,800 per quintal, farmers are being forced to sell onions in the price range of Rs 500 to Rs 800 per quintal. They are incurring huge financial losses, but state govt has failed to take cognizance of the situation," Dighole said.He added that whenever onion prices rise, the govt immediately steps in by imposing restrictions such as Minimum Export Price (MEP), import duty or bans on exports. "We want the govt to take immediate measures to provide financial relief to the farmers who have sold their produce at lower rates over the last six months," Dighole said, reiterating the demand for a grant of Rs1,500 per quintal to compensate farmers for the losses.