Karnataka - Raichur   

Raichur farmers refuse to sell onion at procurement centre

Staff Correspondent

Government should fix minimum support price for A-grade onion, say farmers Government should fix minimum support price for A-grade onion, say farmers

UNRELENTING FARMERS: Huge quantities of onion are being brought to the APMC yard in Raichur.

Raichur: Farmers, who brought onion to the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) yard in Raichur, have refused to sell the produce though the State Government has opened a procurement centre under the Floor Price Scheme at the yard on Wednesday.

Huge quantities of onion are being brought to the yard since the last week. But the farmers have refused sell their produce demanding that the Government announce minimum support price (MSP) for fine quality (A-grade) onion.

Announcement

Deputy Commissioner and Chairman of the District Task Force Committee Tushar Girinath had made an announcement at the procurement centre that the Government had fixed Rs. 270 per quintal for B-grade onion and Rs.100 per quintal for C-grade onion. It released Rs. 10 lakh for procurement of onion and the procurement centre would purchase a maximum of 50 quintals of onion daily from small and marginal farmers. But the Government has not yet decided on announcement of MSP for A-grade onion.

However, the farmers have been demanding that the Government fix a minimum support price of Rs. 500 a quintal of A-grade onion.

Though some farmers have come forward to sell their produce, a majority of them have decided to hold their produce until the Government fixed MSP for A-grade onion.

Meanwhile, A. Papa Reddy, MLA and Muniyappa Muddappa, former Minister and Kalmala MLA, have been pursuing farmers to sell their produce at the procurement centre for the time being at prices announced for B-grade and C-grade onion. They promised the farmers that they would take up their issue with the Government.

However, the farmers complained that the Government was doing injustice to them by procuring fine quality onion from them. They spent between Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 12,000 an acre to grow onion. But they would sustain losses as the prevailing price of A-grade onion at the yard was below Rs. 250 per quintal.

Mr. Reddy and Mr. Muddappa told presspersons that last year, the Centre had announced an MSP of Rs. 500 per quintal for A-grade onion.

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