India's onion supply chain is facing pressure from both labour action at the Agricultural Produce Market Committee onion and potato yard in Turbhe, Navi Mumbai, and falling wholesale prices at Lasalgaon APMC in Nashik.
In Navi Mumbai, the Maharashtra Rajya Mathadi, Transport and General Kamgar Union has announced that from March 1, workers will refuse to unload any sack weighing more than 50 kg and will stop work if the limit is violated. In a February 20 letter to the Onion-Potato Wholesale Traders Association, with copies to the APMC administration and market bodies, the union said that despite repeated meetings and written communications, sacks weighing between 60 kg and 70 kg continued to enter the market yard.
Union general secretary Narendra Annasaheb Patil described the decision as "a line carved in black stone". The restriction is supported by the Maharashtra Mathadi, Hamal and Other Manual Workers Regulation of Employment and Welfare Act, 1969, and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020. Following the union's communication, the APMC directed trader bodies to ensure compliance with the 50 kg cap, stating that responsibility for violations would lie with the concerned traders or commission agents. Trader representatives said they are not opposed to the weight cap but called for uniform enforcement across APMCs. "If the rule is implemented strictly only at Navi Mumbai while other APMCs continue accepting heavier sacks, it will affect competitiveness and trade movement," a representative said.
At the same time, wholesale onion prices at Lasalgaon APMC have fallen below Rs 1,000 per quintal, equivalent to approximately US$12 per 100 kg. The average price declined from Rs 1,500 per quintal to Rs 975 per quintal over the past month. On Wednesday, the average was Rs 975 per quintal, rising to Rs 1,075 per quintal on Thursday, or about US$13 per 100 kg. Minimum and maximum prices ranged from Rs 400 to Rs 1,515 per quintal. Around 24,000 quintals were auctioned on Thursday.
Onion growers state that production costs are around Rs 1,800 per quintal. "Farmers incur heavy losses if they get prices below that," they said. State Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal has written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis requesting a grant of Rs 500 per quintal for farmers who sold onions at lower rates and has called for a long-term onion policy to stabilise prices.
Source 1: Hindustan Times
Source 2: The Times of India
