Onion prices to remain high this Diwali, farmers refuse to go on a break

As wholesale onion prices across the markets in Nashik remained above the Rs 2,000-mark on Monday, farmer organisations rejected various market committee suggestions to forgo their traditional week-long Diwali break.

A report in the Indian Express stated that the district collector of Nashik had held a meeting with the traders and other market representatives to let go of their traditional Diwali break starting from Tuesday to prevent a further rise in onion prices.

However, the farmers refused the proposal saying that it was “intentionally done to reduce the prices”. At the same time, a leader of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana Dipak Pagar warned the government of an agitation by farmers against the “anti-farmer policies of the central government”.

The onion prices across the country have been on the rise with 79.78 percent increase in September. On Monday the onion prices shot up to Rs 35-40 per kilogram.

Onion prices were rolling at Rs 1,600-1,750 per quintal earlier this year which shot up to Rs 2,200-2,400 last Friday. Market sources told the paper the prices are expected to be within this range for some time due to the about 60 percent-dip in onion production in Karnataka.

“Farmers have the bare minimum stock. However, the price rise is mainly because of the almost 60 percent-dip reported in the kharif area from Karnataka,” Jaydutt Holkar, Chairman of the Lasalgaon’s wholesale market told the paper.

Stating that the current price trend will continue until new crops arrive, Holkar added that Maharashtra’s Kharif onion would arrive post-Diwali.

The Central government had urged the state to investigate the reasons for the rise in prices, following which the state directed district deputy registrar to conduct an inquiry into the matter.

The wholesale market also saw a decline in the onion stock arriving for trade. On Monday, over 1,500 quintals of onions arrived in Lasalagon market whereas 7,500 quintals arrived from Pimpalgaon market. Sources told the newspaper that the decline in arrivals might be due to the festive season as farmers usually do not come to the market for trading.