The Maharashtra State Onion Growers' Association has accused the Centre of deliberately keeping onion prices low in view of the upcoming elections and pushing growers into a "debt trap".
Its founder-president Bharat Dighole claimed in a statement on Thursday that the government was crushing prices of the kitchen staple by "stopping procurement, banning exports and granting irregular import licences.”
"The aim is to make onions cheaply available to consumers in the run-up to assembly polls in Bihar and other states, as well as municipal elections in Mumbai, Pune and elsewhere in Maharashtra. To keep voters happy, farmers are being pushed into a debt trap," Dighole alleged.
He said neither the ruling party nor the Opposition stands firmly with farmers. "Onion is not just a crop but the backbone of the rural economy. Yet, the government is sacrificing farmers' interests for political advantage," Dighole explained.
Warning of large-scale protests, he said, "If farmers are not given assured prices, proper storage facilities and a stable export mechanism, their anger cannot be contained. This time, farmers will not remain silent.
We will raise our voice collectively across Maharashtra." Prices of the bulb fell to Rs 970 per quintal at the auction in Umrana APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) market in Nashik district on Thursday, he said.
At Lasalgaon APMC, the prices ranged between Rs 600 and Rs 1,906 per quintal. The average price stood at Rs 1,350 per quintal, Dighole said. Earlier, he had said that the production cost of onions is over Rs 2,200 per quintal.
