Nashik, known as India's onion capital and home to Asia's largest onion market, continues to face challenges from erratic weather, fluctuating export policies, and unstable prices. Over the past three years, these factors have disrupted production cycles and market stability, prompting farmers to demand a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for onions.
"The sowing and harvesting cycles have gone haywire due to erratic weather. Export links are damaged because of inconsistent policies, and market rates fluctuate so wildly that both traders and farmers are now wary of growing or trading onions. The situation will worsen if the government doesn't pay attention to the deepening onion crisis," said Bharat Dighole, President of the Maharashtra State Onion Producer Farmers' Organisation.
The organisation has urged the government to establish an MSP to protect farmers from market volatility and losses. The Ministry of Agriculture stated that the inclusion of crops under the MSP framework is determined by factors such as shelf life, scale of cultivation, level of consumption, and food security relevance. It added that under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), state governments can notify onion crops for insurance coverage against natural disasters.
In Maharashtra, onions are grown in three main seasons: rabi, kharif, and late kharif. The rabi crop, planted from October to November and harvested from March to May, accounts for around 70% of total production. Kharif and late kharif crops, sown between May and September, make up the remaining 30%. The kharif harvest is particularly important for maintaining price stability during the lean months between rabi and late kharif arrivals.
"We no longer know what price we will get for our produce or if we'll even recover production costs. The MSP will at least assure some kind of relief," said B. K. Patil, a farmer from Ahmednagar. He explained that onion yields are highly sensitive to climate conditions, with favourable weather leading to oversupply and price drops, while frost, unseasonal rain, or heat can destroy fields and trigger shortages.
Members of Parliament from Maharashtra have warned that growers in Nashik, Pune, and Dindori districts are under increasing financial strain. Some farmers have reduced their cultivation area from 0.6 hectares to 0.2 hectares due to unprofitable returns.
"It's true that farmers are gradually moving away from onion cultivation. The numbers may still be small, but the trend has started," said Rahul Patil, a farmer from Nashik. "Young farmers are now turning to less risky crops instead."
For many in the region, the call for an MSP represents a demand for stability in an increasingly unpredictable production and market environment.
Source: BusinessLine
