NASHIK: The distress of farmers in Maharashtra's onion sector has come into focus ahead of the fourth and fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections, covering 24 constituencies in the northern and western regions of the state.
There are 22 onion producing districts in 13 parliamentary constituencies in the state, where the growers have been affected by the Centre's steps. Of these, voting took place in the third phase on May 7 on Solapur, Latur, Baramati and Osmanabad seats.
A representative of onion farmers said that the ruling government and the opposition had made no efforts to alleviate their problems.
“There is tremendous unrest among onion growers, who will express their anger through EVMs (electronic voting machines) on May 13 and May 20,” Bhara Dighole, founder-president of Maharashtra State Onion Growers Association, said on Thursday.,
Elections are being held on 48 seats in the state in five phases, out of which three phases have been completed. Voting for the remaining two phases will be held on May 13 and May 20.
Earlier, the Center had imposed 14 per cent duty on onion exports to control bulb prices in the domestic market. After the farmers' agitation, I withdrew the duty and fixed the minimum export price at $850 per tonne. However, farmers claim that this did not benefit them in any way.
In December last year, the Center had completely banned the export of onion. While lifting the ban on May 4, the government kept the minimum export price at $550 per tonne besides imposing 40 per cent export duty.Dhule, Dindori, Ahmednagar, Shirdi, Shirur, Beed, Maval, Nandurbar and Nashik, where Lasalgaon has the country's largest wholesale onion market, are among the other constituencies where onion growers have been affected. Voting will be held on these seats in the remaining two phases.
"Due to such policies, farmers' expenses doubled and their income halved," said an agricultural expert from Nashik. He said drought-like conditions persist in the state, adding, "These are not good signs."
Dighole said Maharashtra is the largest producer of onion in the country, accounting for about 40 percent of the national production.Rajaram Pangawane, a senior Congress leader from Nashik, said "anger against the ruling government for its anti-farmer policies" is visible in rural areas.
NCP leader and Maharashtra Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujba admitted that farmers are troubled by the onion export ban. “But now that it has been lifted, it will give them relief. We are highlighting this in our campaign,” he said.
The NCP is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance, which also includes the BJP led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena.
Dighole also blamed the opposition parties, saying that they did not raise their voice against the government's onion policies as strongly as they should have.“Maybe they thought that they would benefit from the rising anger among farmers before the elections. He did not force the government to withdraw its decisions.
The farmer representative said former Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, who now heads the NCP (SP), participated in the protest by onion growers at Chandwa in Dindori constituency, when he could have directly spoken to the Center on their behalf. .
“Now, his party is contesting from Dindori seat, which means the opposition is preparing the ground for itself keeping the elections in mind,” he said.
Dighole said that former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief and Congress also did not take any stand on the plight of onion farmers.He said, the government has not implemented the announcement made for onion growers.
“The government had announced that it would buy up to 2 lakh tonnes of onion at Rs 2,410 per quintal but did not do so. Its decision to export 99,150 tonnes of onion could not be implemented. Similarly, its earlier announcement to export 3 lakh tonnes of onions remained only on paper,” he said.
He said there was no need to crush onion farmers in this manner to stabilize prices for consumers.
“…You cannot reduce onion prices at the expense of farmers to appease consumers across different income ranges.The anger of the farmers will be expressed through the ballot box,” he said.
There are 22 onion producing districts in 13 parliamentary constituencies in the state, where the growers have been affected by the Centre's steps. Of these, voting took place in the third phase on May 7 on Solapur, Latur, Baramati and Osmanabad seats.
A representative of onion farmers said that the ruling government and the opposition had made no efforts to alleviate their problems.
“There is tremendous unrest among onion growers, who will express their anger through EVMs (electronic voting machines) on May 13 and May 20,” Bhara Dighole, founder-president of Maharashtra State Onion Growers Association, said on Thursday.,
Elections are being held on 48 seats in the state in five phases, out of which three phases have been completed. Voting for the remaining two phases will be held on May 13 and May 20.
Earlier, the Center had imposed 14 per cent duty on onion exports to control bulb prices in the domestic market. After the farmers' agitation, I withdrew the duty and fixed the minimum export price at $850 per tonne. However, farmers claim that this did not benefit them in any way.
In December last year, the Center had completely banned the export of onion. While lifting the ban on May 4, the government kept the minimum export price at $550 per tonne besides imposing 40 per cent export duty.Dhule, Dindori, Ahmednagar, Shirdi, Shirur, Beed, Maval, Nandurbar and Nashik, where Lasalgaon has the country's largest wholesale onion market, are among the other constituencies where onion growers have been affected. Voting will be held on these seats in the remaining two phases.
"Due to such policies, farmers' expenses doubled and their income halved," said an agricultural expert from Nashik. He said drought-like conditions persist in the state, adding, "These are not good signs."
Dighole said Maharashtra is the largest producer of onion in the country, accounting for about 40 percent of the national production.Rajaram Pangawane, a senior Congress leader from Nashik, said "anger against the ruling government for its anti-farmer policies" is visible in rural areas.
NCP leader and Maharashtra Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujba admitted that farmers are troubled by the onion export ban. “But now that it has been lifted, it will give them relief. We are highlighting this in our campaign,” he said.
The NCP is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance, which also includes the BJP led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena.
Dighole also blamed the opposition parties, saying that they did not raise their voice against the government's onion policies as strongly as they should have.“Maybe they thought that they would benefit from the rising anger among farmers before the elections. He did not force the government to withdraw its decisions.
The farmer representative said former Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, who now heads the NCP (SP), participated in the protest by onion growers at Chandwa in Dindori constituency, when he could have directly spoken to the Center on their behalf. .
“Now, his party is contesting from Dindori seat, which means the opposition is preparing the ground for itself keeping the elections in mind,” he said.
Dighole said that former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief and Congress also did not take any stand on the plight of onion farmers.He said, the government has not implemented the announcement made for onion growers.
“The government had announced that it would buy up to 2 lakh tonnes of onion at Rs 2,410 per quintal but did not do so. Its decision to export 99,150 tonnes of onion could not be implemented. Similarly, its earlier announcement to export 3 lakh tonnes of onions remained only on paper,” he said.
He said there was no need to crush onion farmers in this manner to stabilize prices for consumers.
“…You cannot reduce onion prices at the expense of farmers to appease consumers across different income ranges.The anger of the farmers will be expressed through the ballot box,” he said.
