MP farmers’ distress grows with the queue to sell onions

Wait at mandi gates gets longer even as monsoon threat to ruin the crop nears

BHOPAL: Raja Sawalia (47), a farmer of Sehore district stares with foreboding at the looming monsoon clouds as he stands behind hundreds of tractor-trolleys brimming with onions waiting their turn to sell them at the Karond mandi in Bhopal.

Will his turn come before the monsoon sets in and damages his over 60 quintals of onion loaded in two tractor-trolleys? He has been standing here for the past three days and he is nowhere near the mandi gates. He is apprehensive that once his onions become soggy and start rotting, the authorities won’t buy it. “I am hoping to sell the onions at around ₹50,000; it will help me just pay off my loans, with enough left for by kids school and college fees.”

With monsoon likely to hit the state within the next two days according to the meteorology department, Sawalia’s predicament captures the hope and fear that thousands of farmers are facing as they anxiously wait their turn in the 65 purchasing centres throughout the state.

Some farmers like Naushad Khan (53) from a village in Berasia road got so fed up with the unending wait outside the mandi that he decided to sell his onions directly to the consumers in Gyaraso quarters – which is illegal – at ₹8 per kg.

He is being harassed the by local municipal corporation officials who often shoo him away and also ask for bribes. “I am desperate. I have to sell the onions and go back home. I cannot wait this long as I have to prepare my fields for the Kharif crop”

The lifeline given to farmers of Madhya Pradesh by the government’s decision to procure onions at the rate of ₹8 per kg might have given it a breather from the ongoing farmer’s agitation, but the actual relief to farmers still remains to be seen.

Though officials are not saying it explicitly, rotten onions are not being purchased. PC Meena, agriculture production commissioner says, “This is for you to understand. Who will buy rotten onions. But the onions we purchased are our responsibility.”

But one thing is certain — the government is staring at an estimated loss of between ₹500- 600 crores, according to those familiar with developments in the onion front. This is thanks to the lack of expertise by the procuring, storing and distributing agencies.

An official who did not want to be named said that with a transportation cost of of ₹8- 10 per kg, the cost of per kg of onion comes to ₹18. The government plans to sell each kg at ₹2. A clear loss of ₹16 per kg.

Dnyaneshwar Patil, managing director of Markfed, the onion procuring agency said so far they have procured 3.6 lakh metric tonnes, but they estimate this figure will go up to at least 5-6 lakh metric tonnes. However, this is still only 15-20% of the estimated bumper production of 34 lakh metric tonnes this year in Madhya Pradesh.

Patil agrees that neither his agency nor the state civil supplies department which has been given the task of storing, distributing and selling the onions has the expertise to do so. Distributing the produce to all corners of the state to be sold through PDS shops at ₹2 per kg will be a major challenge, he admits.

Hitesh Bajpai the chairman of the state civil supplies corporation knows that the government is staring at a huge loss.

He candidly admits, “It would be wrong to say that we are fully prepared. We do not have enough capacity to store the onions which we are purchasing so we are trying to sell them though auction. This year our loss due to wastage might be more than last year when the government purchased onion worth ₹62.8 crores. Our aim is to minimize this loss.”

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