The Indian government made an announcement on Saturday that they would impose an export duty of 40% on onions till December 31, 2023 on the export of onions to increase the availability of onions domestically in between this ongoing price fluctuations, resulting in the increase in the prices within the country. Followed by this, on Sunday, the farmers from Ahmednagar district halted the onion auctioning process to protest against the Centre’s decision.
Sandeep Jagtap, the state president of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana made a statement to the PTI news agency that, “The farmers in Maharashtra were expecting higher returns from the export of onions, but the government has imposed a higher duty on onions to avoid the export of onions. The anti-farmer stand of the Union government has come to the force and the prices of the onions in the local market will crash down and the onion growers will incur huge losses”. “The protesters in the state will continue their protests across the wholesale markets to put pressure on the Union government,” said Jagtap.
Several regions in Maharashtra have not received sufficient rainfall and this has delayed the fresh onion arrivals in the market, he said, blaming the central government for ignoring the farmers and protecting the consumers interests.
The Rahuri tehsil’s onion growers of Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district suspended the ongoing onion auction in the wholesale market. The government should pay attention towards our agonies because, a message was sent by the export duty to the traders that all the onions that are available should be sold in local markets only. A Rahuri farmer protesters said, “Lower prices are being quoted for their produce by the traders now”.
The Lasalgaon APMC trader said that, “Two weeks ago onions were sold at Rs.1,500 per quintal, and in just one week it jumped to Rs.2,200 per quintal. The rates started decreasing now, because the exports from the country have become almost impossible”. As per the sources Agriculture Produce Market Committee at Lasalgaon, there was around 45% increase in the prices of the kitchen staple in Asia’s largest wholesale onion market last week.
Amidst the ongoing protests on Tuesday, Dhananjay Munde, the state Agriculture Minister said that he will talk with Piyush Goyal, the Union Commerce and Industry Minister and come up with some compatible solution to the current issue.
Chhagan Bhujbal, the cabinet colleague of Munde said that he would raise this export duty issue in front of Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP leader and the state deputy chief minister. He told the reporters that he would request Fadnavis to speak with the officials in Delhi and find an “amicable” solution.
