Nashik: There is a fear among onion traders that there is going to be a severe shortage of their stock in the market in the following days to come.
The onion merchants’ association meeting in Nashik on Monday to resolve the issue of cash crunch affecting onion trading activities remained inconclusive but another meeting will be held on Tuesday.
Lasalgaon Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Merchant Director Sachin Bramecha said that they discussed the issue of recent cash crunch on Monday. “Today banks are closed. Tomorrow, we will discuss the issue with the banks and see what mode of payment we can make to the farmer and buy onions,” Bramecha said.
Most APMCs in Maharashtra, including those dealing in onion from Nashik, are closed. In Lasalgaon, the association, in a letter submitted to the APMC on November 9, had said that they would not be participating in the auctions from November 10.
The market depends on traders buying stocks. The APMC urged farmers not to bring their produce to the markets. The onion markets have remained closed since November 10. Chandwad and few other APMCs opened up during the period but trading was very limited.
Chandwad APMC chairman Dr Atmaram Kumbharde said that they reasoned with the traders and farmers to accept some sort of settlement to keep the trading on. “Some traders bought agriculture produce in cash of old notes. The farmers too accepted them. Later, the cash was exhausted. Other means of payment like cheque or credit are being worked out,” Dr Kumbharde said.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra State Market Committees’ Cooperative Federation Ltd Chairman Diliprao Mohite-Patil stated that all 307 APMCs in the state faced cash problem and most had closed.
Maharashtra farmers have been severely affected by the cash flow, he added.
