- Monday, March 03, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Farmers in the western Indian state of Maharashtra have embarked on a 200 kilometre-march towards state capital Mumbai seeking higher prices for onions.
Authorities have announced some financial relief for the onion farmers but they have rejected the proposal saying they would continue with their protest.
BBC Marathi spoke to one of the protesting farmers who said he was against spending money to rope in labourers to harvest the onions and take them to markets because he could not recover the costs.
He was one among thousands who have resorted to protests after the prices of onions suddenly crashed over the past weeks. Some burned the crop after sending an invitation to Eknath Shinde, the state’s chief minister, while others posted parcels of their crop to prime minister Narendra Modi to attract him towards their woes, the report added.
India’s onion problem is not something new. With around 24 million tonnes of annual output, India is the world’s second-largest producer of onions, trailing only China. Maharashtra accounts for more than half of the total national output.
About 10-15 per cent of the countrywide output is sent to other nations.
There are many challenges that come with onions. While their prices remain highly volatile in India, its perishability means its shelf life is limited. And on the top of it all, onions are known to have a notorious political side.
Since onions remain an integral part of Indians’ food habits, a overdose of supply could lead to fall in prices, putting thousands of farmers in crisis. A shortage, on the other hand, can lead to skyrocketing prices and upsetting the consumers. The disappointment over onions’ price has led to collapse of governments in the country in the past.
According to officials, a major reason for the latest onion crisis in Maharashtra is a drop in demand from various northern states since states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan were also harvesting the produce, the BBC report added.
Unexpected changes in weather are also having an impact on production of onions and their prices, Shrikant Kuwalekar, a farm expert, told the BBC.
“Last year, there was heavy rainfall in the months of July-August, so farmers delayed their cultivation. This has led to a huge surplus of the onion crop in March, which would otherwise have hit the market in December-January,” he was quoted as saying by the news outlet.
He also warned that the situation will get worse once the winter harvest reaches the market in a few weeks’ time.
Onions are cultivated in India in two seasons — monsoon and winter.
The monsoon crop is usually harvested between late December and early January. These onions have a generally low shelf life and must reach markets fast. The winter yields, which are harvested from mid-March, can be stored for a longer time.
Farmers in Maharashtra’s Nashik said they are only getting around Rs 200-400 ($2.43-$4.85; £2-£4) per 100 kilograms (kg) of onions in the wholesale market.
Ajit Navale, a farmer leader from Maharashtra, told the BBC the economics of onion farming.
Onion prices, according to him, need to stay above Rs 1,200 (£12) per 100 kg if the farmer is to make a profit of at least Rs 400.
Navale said only middlemen and traders benefit from the supply glut.
“They buy onions from farmers at a very cheap rate and sell them in cities for higher prices. Ultimately, both farmers and consumers are affected,” he added, ruing that the government is not stepping in.
Kuwalekar said although demand for onions is steady, India doesn’t have a proper policy to regulate their prices.
When prices rise, the government often bans the vegetable’s exports, fearing protests at home.
