Mumbai, May 15 (PTI) Senior NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil has urged the Maharashtra government to support onion growers with a guaranteed price of Rs 2,000 per quintal and a subsidy of Rs 1,500 per quintal to compensate farmers for losses.
In a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Patil said lakhs of farmers in onion-producing districts such as Nashik, Pune, Solapur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar are facing a severe financial crisis due to a sharp fall in onion prices and uncertainty in markets.
He said the current market prices are significantly lower than the cost of production, which has risen sharply because of higher expenditure on seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and labour.
Patil urged the state government to direct the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and other agencies to undertake large-scale procurement of the kitchen staple to provide immediate support to farmers.
He also sought that a group subsidy of Rs 500 to Rs 700 per quintal and a subsidy on chemical fertilisers be transferred directly to farmers’ bank accounts through the Direct Benefit Transfer system.
In his letter dated May 11, the former state minister claimed that frequent changes in onion export policy had hurt the reputation of Indian onions in international markets and called for a long-term and stable export policy in coordination with the Centre.
Patil further demanded subsidies for setting up modern onion storage facilities and traditional onion ‘chalis’ (ventilated shed) in rural areas, and asked that quality onion seeds be made available to farmers at concessional rates. PTI MR NR
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