In a fresh protest, onion farmers along with political leaders from Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the opposition alliance, staged a sit-in protest ‘Akrosh Mahamorcha’ in Chandwad area in Maharashtra’s Nashik District, demanding minimum support price (MSP) of ₹24 per kg for onions.

The farmers wearing garlands of onions blocked the road on the Mumbai-Agra National Highway at Chandwad to protest the low prices for their yields. NCP-SP leader, Rohit Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Ambadas Danve and State Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal accompanied the farmers.

“We are not even able to receive the cost of production after selling the onions. The cost alone is ₹1800-2000 per quintal. How acceptable is the government’s Rs.1580 per quintal? They are just throwing us pieces and being ignorant of our plight,” said onion farmer Babanrao, who also participated in the protest.

On Monday, the onion procurement rate was increased from ₹1,235 to ₹1,580 per quintal and procured through National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) and National Cooperatives’ Consumers Federation of India (NCCF effective from Tuesday, which did not go down well with the farmers.

“The last protest increased the government’s price from ₹12 to ₹15, so it is a small win but not enough. We are protesting to get at least ₹2400 per quintal. This is serious, the climate is unpredictable, farming has become tedious, the government should keep politics aside, keep elections aside and resolve onion farmers’ issues,” said Mr. Rohit Pawar.

A week ago, Mr. Rohit Pawar protested in Lasalgaon, one of the biggest onion markets demanding the MSP of ₹25 kg per kg and compensation of ₹1500 to farmers who earned a meagre amount for their produces. Thereafter, the procurement rate was increased from ₹1,235 per quintal, which was earlier announced by Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Satara on May 12. 

Farmers have demanded that NAFED and NCCF, the central government agencies, should purchase in the market committee and register the sell.

Highlighting the prices of onion from 2024 to today, Mr. Sapkal said, “This shows incompetence of both the central and state governments as they have failed to provide a stable export policy. The international market has slipped out of the hands of countries, including Bangladesh have reduced onion imports from India, impacting our farmers, yet the government shows no action beyond mere assurances.” 

During the protest, the police used force to detain the political leaders. After the tension arose as protesters blocked the road and rushed towards the queues of vehicles, the police started detaining protesters, including Rohit Pawar, Shashikant Shinde, Ambadas Danve and Harshvardhan Saptal.