An Indian farmer was demoralized after travelling 70 km to sell his harvest which earned him just Rs 2 in return for 512 kg onions.
Rajendra Tukaram Chavan – an onion farmer from India’s Maharashtra state – told Indian media that he auctioned onions for Rs 1/kg at the Solar Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) and received payment as a post-dated cheque of Rs2.
“I got Rs 1 per kg for the onions. The APMC trader further deducted Rs 509.50 from the total amount of Rs 512 towards transportation charges, head-loading and weighing fees,” he explained.
This time around, Chavan could make all but Rs2.49 despite a steep input cost of nearly Rs 40,000 — thanks to inflation making the acquisition of seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides twice as expensive as it was 3-4 years ago.
Nasir Khalifa, the trader who bought Chavan’s onions at the APMC, cited digitization as the reason for issuing a Rs 2 cheque to the farmer and defended the price offered.
“The onions brought for auction were of low quality,” the owner of Surya Traders told TOI.
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