Role reversal in Onion Exports from Maharashtra

it's been in the news for a while that the onion farmers from Maharashtra most predominantly Nashik have been destroying their produce and burning it in protest of the extremely low prices fetched by them in the local market. Some farmers even decided to send their destroyed produce to the Prime Minister of India as a mark of protest and begging the government to intervene. The farmers demand the government to set up a base price so that their blood, sweat and tears expended to toil and grow the produce reaps some decent profits.

The onion market is an extremely volatile market in India and the prices are generally determined by the traders at the Auctions at the Agriculture Produce Markets. The farmers also have to transport their produce to these markets on their own which adds to their costs. This year due to exceptional bumper production the prices have fallen to a new limit. Currently, the onions (Varying on the size and quality) are on an average fetching just Rs 700 per quintal ( ~8.75$ per 100 Kg) in the auction markets.

However, in stark contrast to the local markets there has been approximately 40% increase in the Exports of Onions just within 8 months. Between April and November of the current financial year, approx 800,000 tonnes of Onions were exported. The low prices of the produce in conjunction to falling international shipping prices led to this growth. The produce which met the international quality standards were all exported by the exporters. It was a role reversal in comparison to last year when onions were diverted to local markets instead of being exported due to shortage of supply due to prolonged monsoon combined with high international shipping costs.

Along with a base price, more farmers need to be educated on the processes and the how-to's of exporting successfully forming a farmers collective so that they could also diversify their income at such times of poor local markets instead of completely relying on traders. Additionally, government needs to research on increasing shelf life while exporting onions so that newer international destinations could be targeted instead of the nearby and neighbouring countries that they are currently being exported to.