Nashik, Jun 7: Farmers in Maharashtra have welcomed the central government’s decision to relax onion procurement norms, but said the move would provide little relief and demanded a minimum procurement price of Rs 3,000 per quintal.
They claimed the procurement rate of around Rs 1,580 per quintal offered by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumer’s Federation of India (NCCF) was lower than prevailing market expectations and inadequate to cover cultivation costs.
The Centre has eased size and quality specifications for onion procurement, expanding the acceptable size range from 45-65 mm to 35-70 mm and relaxing norms related to blemishes, colour variation, skin defects and minor sun damage.
While welcoming the decision, farmer leaders on Sunday said the core issue facing growers was not eligibility for procurement but the low prices being offered.
“Norms have been relaxed, but farmers are still incurring losses. The real question is when onion prices will increase,” Maharashtra State Onion Growers Association’s Nashik district president Jaydeep Bhadane said.
Under the earlier grading system, a farmer bringing 30 quintals of onions for procurement often saw only about 25 quintals accepted, with the remaining produce sold at lower market rates, he pointed out.
“The benefit of relaxed norms will depend on how effectively they are implemented on the ground,” he said.
Demanding a minimum support price of Rs 3,000 per quintal, Bhadane claimed the procurement rate of around Rs 1,580 per quintal offered by NAFED and NCCF was lower than prevailing market expectations and inadequate to cover cultivation costs.
Association president Bharat Dighole said the average cost of onion production was around Rs 1,800 per quintal and farmers were being forced to sell below cost.
“When farmers are compelled to sell onions below production cost, they are pushed into financial distress. The rates announced by central procurement agencies are like rubbing salt into farmers’ wounds,” Dighole claimed.
The association also sought greater transparency in the procurement process and demanded that NAFED and NCCF publish daily lists of farmers from whom onions were procured.
It further urged that procurement be conducted through Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) to curb irregularities and ensure competitive pricing for farmers.
The farmers’ body also demanded a subsidy of Rs 1,500 per quintal for growers who had sold onions at low prices over the past four to five months, claiming that lakhs of cultivators had suffered significant losses due to depressed market rates.
The Maharashtra government has waived APMC fees on onion procurement transactions undertaken by NAFED and NCCF in a bid to reduce transaction costs and accelerate procurement.
Farmer leaders, however, said the benefit of the fee waiver would largely accrue to procurement agencies unless procurement prices were raised.
The association warned that merely relaxing procurement norms would not resolve the crisis facing onion growers and called for remunerative prices, transparent procurement, APMC-based purchases and compensation for past losses.
Farmers will get real justice only when fair prices are ensured and previous losses are compensated, it added.
The Lasalgaon APMC in Nashik is one of the largest wholesale onion markets in the country. (PTI)
