Senior officials from the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare visited the Lasalgaon Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) on Tuesday to review onion production, price fluctuations, surplus rabi stocks and export policies.
APMC chairman Dnyaneshwar (DK) Jagtap said that farmers, traders and office-bearers placed several demands before the Central team. Farmers sought a minimum support price (MSP) for onions, a reduction in GST on fuel, fertilisers and equipment, and free distribution of white onion seeds.
Traders demanded more railway racks for transport, better logistics, advance notice before export bans, incentives for onion exports, and research into onion-based processing technology. Concerns were also raised over losses caused by export restrictions and storage management by NAFED and NCCF.
The meeting was attended by Divisional Joint Director of Agriculture Subhash Kotkar, Deputy Director Mahesh Vetekar, District Superintendent Ravindra Mane, Sub-Divisional Officer Tanaji Kharde, District Deputy Registrar Fayaz Mulani, Assistant Registrar Kantilal Gaikwad, APMC members Jaydatt Holkar, Rajendra Dokhale, Chhaburao Jadhav, Suvarna Jagtap, Shrikant Aware, Pravin Kadam and Balasaheb Darade, along with secretary Narendra Wadhavane, deputy secretary Prakash Kumawat, traders Nitin Jain, Manoj Jain, Vikas Singh and farmer representative Abhijit Dukare.
