Onion prices have crashed in Maharashtra and potato prices have spiraled downwards in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and some other states. The crashing of onion and potato prices has once again highlighted the plight of Indian farmers who are compelled to destroy their crops.
While the price of potatoes has crashed to Rs 500 per 100 kgs this year, from an average of Rs 1,200 per 100 kgs last year, a farmer was quoted as saying, "We cannot afford to sell potato below Rs 900 per 100 kgs as, at this rate, we can meet the input cost and make a small profit."
With the prices not showing any signs of picking up, the days ahead are going to be very difficult for potato growers. Not only in Punjab, potato prices have seen a drastic fall so far in Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Meanwhile, potato is not the only farm debacle that is being reported these days. Prices of cauliflower, cabbage and tomato too have crashed. Not realising prices above Rs 3 per kg, farmers in Punjab have already started destroying their crop. "I grew it and I am destroying it. It's very tough but what else do I do," asks a vegetable grower.
Gluts of onion, potato, tomato and other vegetables has become a regular phenomenon in India. Due to abundant production, onion prices crashed and farmers in Maharashtra have either been compelled to sell the onions at Rs 1 per kg or throw them out. The woes of potato producers in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are no different from Maharashtra's onion growers.
Source: indiatoday.in