Maharashtra Budget: CM Shinde assures govt support to farmers, says 2.38 lakh MT of onion procured so far

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Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday informed the Legislative Assembly that the state government stands with farmers and that the purchase process by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) has begun.

"The state government is giving justice to the farmers. We have also helped the affected farmers. The purchase process by NAFED has also begun. 2.38 lakh MT of onion has been procured so far. Onion export is also not banned. Further help will be announced to the onion farmers as per requirement," CM Shinde said.

CM Shinde's remarks came after Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar raised the issue of decreasing onion prices for farmers in the assembly today. Pawar also demanded the centre's intervention and the beginning of purchase by NAFED.

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While Opposition MLAs too expressed concerns, Congress MLA Nana Patole raised the issue of police lathicharage on farmers in Amaravati.

Due to consistent drop in the onion prices, on February 27, angry farmers stopped the auction of the key kitchen staple at Maharashtra's Lasalgaon Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC). The price of onion per kilogram came down to Rs 2 to Rs 4, which angered the farmers.

Earlier this month, a Solapur-based farmer was shocked to see that he earned a profit of merely Rs 2.49 against the sale of his 512 kg onions to a trader in the district.