A bottle of drinking water costs Rs12 to Rs24 in Mumbai, but if the price of a kilo of onion crosses Rs20, people protest
Madhavrao Khanderao Morey
I started the first onion agitation against the government 20 years ago. Even then, we farmers had to fight to increase the prices of onions.
What I do not understand is if people in Mumbai can pay Rs12 to Rs24 for a litre of drinking water, why are they so reluctant to pay Rs20 or Rs25 for a kilo of onions? Do they know what it costs to produce onions?
This time the rise in prices happened due to the ongoing lean period, before the new stock comes in. The government and marketing board’s first reaction was to ban the export of onions.
Word spread that onion exporters would lose their licences, thus creating panic and leading to a fall in wholesale prices. Unfortunately, it is the farmer who loses out in the process.
The government is quick to act when prices go up, but who spares a thought for the farmer who does not get a good price for one reason or the other? The quality and weight of the onion suffers if it is stored for too long because it has a limited shelf life.
Onions are perishable and need to be consumed as soon as possible. Often we have to throw away our stock as they get
spoilt. Sometimes, we do not get the actual price and have to sell the stock at a lesser price.
And sometimes when there is a shortage and the new crop is yet to reach the markets, we go without any profit as there are no buyers for our old stock.
If the season is a good one, the trader does not buy all our stock. What do we do with so much onion? We eventually have to throw it out. Do people in the cities realise that such lean periods can kill a farmer? The government, time and again, has been playing games with our lives.
Also, not many people are aware that really good onions are not eaten by the local consumer. They are all exported, and this good crop is what the trader wants. We get only a little extra money selling to an export trader.
The trader benefits more than us. Malls and retailers who have started buying onions directly from farmers
are definitely doing a good job. It is a positive change, as the farmer will now get a fair price for his produce.
— Morey is a farmer from Pimpalgaon who spearheaded an agitation for fairer prices.
He spoke to Neeta Kolhatkar
