A farmer got a single-digit price after selling 205 kg of onions at the Bengaluru market. The troubled farmer had posted the receipt on social media, warning other farmers not to bring their crops to the city.
The story
While the crop prices differ considerably across the nation, an incident from Bengaluru will surely leave you stunned. Recently, a farmer from Gadag earned Rs 8.36 after selling 205 kg of onion in Bengaluru’s Yeshwanthpur market. The receipt of the payment gained widespread attention after the farmer put it on social media, warning other cultivators not to bring their crops to the city.
The wholesaler, who has issued the bill, has valued the onions at Rs 200 per quintal. But after subtracting Rs 24 as porter charges and Rs 377.64 towards freight, he has given Rs 8.36 to the farmer, Pawadeppa Hallikeri from Timmapur village.
Nearly 50 farmers from Gadag, who had gone to sell onions at the Yeshwanthpur market transporting it over 415 km, were surprised to see the price at Rs 200 per quintal, while it was around Rs 500 just a few days ago.
Furious at the ridiculous prices, farmers are now preparing a protest to push the state government to announce a minimum support price for their produce. “We farmers from Gadag have been affected by incessant rainfall this year and onions that we have grown are smaller in size,” said Pawadeppa.
Farmers demand MSP for onion
“Farmers from Pune and Tamil Nadu, who bring their produce to Yeshwanthpur, are getting a good price as their crop is better. But still, none of us expected the price to be this low,” said Pawadeppa.
“I got just Rs 8 and posted the receipt on social media to alert other farmers to avoid the Yeshwanthpur market as the Gadag and north Karnataka onion crop is not getting a good price there. I have spent more than Rs 25,000 to grow and transport the crop to the market.
Many farmers like me are now disappointed,” Pawadeppa said. Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha Gadag district president Yallappa Babari said, “We have asked the state government to declare the minimum support price as soon as possible as farmers have suffered losses this whole year due to continuous rain. If no decision is taken, we will take out a protest in the first week of December.”
