Nasik Onion farmers started a protest against govt to stop prices from going down.
Farmers in Maharashtra’s Nashik district have started a protest because onion prices are going down, and they have warned that they will ‘intensify’ it if the Union and State governments don’t help them.
Farmers who were upset gathered at the regional office in Nashik’s Yeola town on Monday to ask the government to stop the prices of onions from going down. One of the farmers asked, ‘Do they charge the same amount to cut your hair at the hair salon as they did ten years ago?’ No, that’s not true. But the price we get for our crop is the same as it was ten years ago.’
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Farmers in Nashik, India, which is one of the most important onion-growing areas in India, said that untimely rains and rising prices of pesticides and fertilizers have made things worse in the last few years.
‘We sell onions for ₹7-8 per kg, but the cost of making them is already ₹19-20 per kg. Farmers told the media, ‘We are losing a lot of money, and you will see suicides among farmers in the area.’
Farmers have asked the government of Maharashtra to give them grants to make up for losses caused by low prices. Farmers have also asked the Union government to come up with a clear policy on how onions can be imported and exported.
Farmers who were upset asked questions about the policies and prices of the Union government and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED). Farmers said that the people who decide how much NAFED buys onions don’t know what’s going on on the ground, which is why the central agency buys onions at low prices.
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Several groups of farmers have come together to help onion farmers, who have said they will protest even more if their demands aren’t met.
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