602 kg onion crop fetches farmer only ₹301!

An onion farmer from Maharashtra’s Beed district has claimed he received only 50 paise per kilogram for his crop, highlighting the deep distress faced by cultivators amid crashing prices of the kitchen staple.

 Bhaskar Shingare, a farmer from Aranwadi village in Beed, said he transported 602 kilograms of onions to the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Solapur on May 22. 

  However, after the sale, he received only ₹301 for the entire consignment. Shingare said the total production cost, including labour, transportation and other expenses, stood at ₹1,382, forcing him to bear a loss of over ₹1,000 from his own pocket.

 “I had bought a small tractor earlier and was planning to pay its EMI from this amount. Now, I have nothing left,” he said. The farmer claimed onion growers across the region are facing severe financial pressure due to continuously falling market prices and weak demand conditions.

  He urged the government to intervene immediately and provide relief to cultivators, warning that farmers were becoming increasingly helpless amid mounting losses and rising input costs.  Traders and farmer groups have repeatedly raised concerns over sharp fluctuations in onion prices, saying cultivators often fail to recover even basic input costs despite months of hard work.

  Maharashtra is one of India’s largest onion-producing states, and prices usually remain volatile during periods of excess arrivals. 

  Farmers have demanded minimum support prices, better procurement mechanisms and immediate financial assistance to prevent mounting debt and worsening rural distress across key growing regions.

— PTI