After onion farmers, it’s now tomato growers in Maharashtra who are headed to join protest against price fall: AIKC

For tomatoes, the prices shot up to Rs 1,100 per quintal.

With onion auctions closed today in all the Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) across Maharashtra's Nashik district, tomato farmers too are likely to join the protest against a severe drop in prices due to government interventions, a regional farmer organisation said.

"We have already started the agitation. All the mandis in the Nashik area are closed today due to the strike. Farmer organisations have asked all the Maharashtra mandis to go on strike. We are talking to all the regional farmer organisations to join the agitation. The focus will be on farmers of tomato along with onion," Ajit Nawale, General Secretary, All India Kisan Sabha, told Moneycontrol.

The farmer organisations will decide how long the agitation will continue depending on the response from the government, he said.

For tomatoes, the prices shot up to Rs 1,100 per quintal. The government intervened when it started buying tomatoes from farmers and selling them at a lower price. Another intervention was the import of tomatoes from Nepal, which has reduced tomato prices to Rs 600-700 per quintal.

"Tomato farmers are agitated because, due to the fall in tomato production, prices rose, and the farmers were getting better prices. Now the government is importing tomatoes from Nepal, and the prices are down and may fall further. All farmers will agitate," he said.

To control onion prices, the central government recently announced a 40 percent duty on the export of onions until December 31, 2023.

"The farmers’ perception is that now onion prices too will fall. When farmers are getting good prices now, then the government is intervening to reduce prices, which will be unfair to farmers. Now farmers are getting Rs 2,200 per quintal for onion, but now the prices will fall," Nawale said.

Rajendra Khairnar, a Nashik-based farmer who grows onions, said they will lose money because of the 40 percent export duty.

"Out of Rs 100, now Rs 40 is just going to the government as export duty on onions. The entire produce cannot be consumed domestically. So, we have to export. But our margin is now reduced due to the duty," Khairnar told Moneycontrol.