In the wake of the government of Maharashtra announcing its plans to set up onion banks to store and preserve onions, farmers dismissed the move as something that will only benefit traders and not them.
The government’s announcement came in the wake of protests by onion farmers in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh against the ban on the export of their produce. The ban was imposed to curb the rising prices of onions and the prices dropped to Rs 15 per kilogram in the wholesale markets. Before the ban on export, the prices ranged from Rs 45-Rs 60 per kilogram.
Arun Vitthal, a 33-year-old onion farmer from Jaigaon village in Maharashtra’s Nashik district feared that storage banks would adversely impact the profits of cultivators like him.
“What we need is an immediate suspension of the export ban. Also, there should be no duty imposed on onion exports. The government doesn’t intervene when the prices are low but it always puts curbs when the prices are high. The government should subsidise the prices of onions to make them cheaper and not cut from our share of profits,” Vitthal told Gaon Connection.
Meanwhile, farmer leaders also demanded the government fix a minimum support price (MSP) for perishable commodities like onions. They complained that onion banks would only benefit traders and exporters.
“Traders will hoard onions and wait for the prices to rise. The farmers will continue to struggle for fair prices. The government always tries to reduce the prices for the consumers but has little regard for the producers,” Rajan Kshirsagar, the state head of the All India Kisan Sabha told Gaon Connection.
“These solutions such as onion banks address the demand end of the problem but the supply end is left unattended. How are farmers supposed to benefit from agriculture if the government’s measures are always on the side of traders and consumers,” he asked.
Kshirsagar cited Kerala as an example of ensuring fair prices for vegetable farmers.
In 2020, Kerala declared MSP for fruits and vegetables. Currently, vegetables that are included for MSP in the southern state are — tapioca, banana, pineapple, ash gourd, cucumber, bitter gourd, snake gourd, long beans, tomato, ladies finger, cabbage, carrot, potato, beans, beetroot and garlic.
Kshirsagar demanded that an MSP-like scheme should be implemented for perishable agricultural produce to solve the crisis of price fluctuations in the onion market.
Aslam Shaikh, a Mumbai-based exporter of onions also reiterated that a mere storage facility is not the solution for regulating onion production.
“The government should have an additional clause that the onion will be bought at the storage facilities at a fixed price or else the farmers will lose out on profits,” Shaikh told Gaon Connection.
Nuclear Technology to Store Onions
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had announced in the State legislature on December 18 that these onion banks will use nuclear technology for onion irradiation to preserve the vegetables.
The technology involves using controlled doses of ionising radiation to make onions to extend their shelf life. The technology is used to improve food safety and reduce spoilage without making the food radioactive and unfit for human consumption.
Food irradiation is considered a cold method of storing and preserving food which means that it does not use heat to kill germs. Apart from onions, fruits, meat, eggs, spices and seasonings are also preserved by using irradiation technology across the world.
