Maharashtra onion growers sink into losses as market prices fall below costs
Onion growers in Maharashtra are selling below production cost as heavy arrivals, weaker export demand, rain damage and rising input bills squeeze farm margins. Producer groups are asking for price support and compensation for distress sales.
Onion growers in Maharashtra are facing a deep price crisis as wholesale market rates fall well below production costs. The Economic Times reported that farmers across Nashik, Solapur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar say the current season has been hit by a damaging mix of bumper arrivals, weaker export demand, unseasonal rain and sharply higher cultivation expenses.
One of the starkest cases cited in the report involved farmer Prakash Galadhar from Paithan taluka in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. He brought 1,262 kilograms of onions to market, but after deductions for labour, transport and loading, his final statement reportedly showed that he owed the trader Re 1. In Nashik district, farmer Jitendra Solanke delivered 30 quintals and was initially offered just Rs 50 per quintal. After protesting, he secured Rs 175 per quintal, which is equivalent to only Rs 1.75 per kilogram.
Farmers say those prices are nowhere near viable. Solanke said his cultivation cost was about Rs 1,200 per quintal and that after selling the crop and paying handling charges only Rs 500 remained, leaving him with a loss of Rs 36,000. Another grower, Bhausaheb Jagtap from Pune district, said onions are being sold at Rs 4 to Rs 5 per kilogram while the cost of production is above Rs 12 per kilogram. Rising expenses for seed, fertilizer, diesel, labour and mechanised operations have intensified the pressure on farm margins.
The price slide has continued since February. At Lasalgaon APMC, India’s largest onion wholesale market and a benchmark for national pricing, onions are currently trading at Rs 400 to Rs 1,600 per quintal, and farmers say almost 80 percent of arrivals are fetching less than Rs 800 per quintal. At Solapur APMC, arrivals on May 13 reached 14,756 quintals and prices ranged from Rs 100 to Rs 1,700 per quintal. A year earlier, the same market was selling onions at Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per quintal. Bharat Dighole, president of the Maharashtra Onion Growers’ Association, said farmers need at least Rs 18 per kilogram just to break even.
The market weakness has been compounded by export disruption and weather losses. Vikas Singh, vice-president of the Horticulture Produce Exporters’ Association of India, said geopolitical tensions involving Iran, the United States and Israel reduced overseas demand. Unseasonal rain between March 19 and March 21 also damaged a large share of the summer onion crop in Nashik just as harvesting began, with excess moisture causing rot in storage and dragging down quality. Prakash Jadhav, head of the onion department at Solapur APMC, said only 30 percent of produce qualified as grade 1.
Producer groups are now calling for urgent state intervention. They want onions brought under a minimum support price mechanism, with a proposed MSP of Rs 3,500 per quintal, and they are also seeking compensation of Rs 1,500 per quintal for distress sales. Farmer leaders warn that without rapid relief, many growers will struggle to recover before the next sowing cycle begins.