50 paise! That's what Maharashtra farmers are making per kg of onions

Farmers across Maharashtra are facing mounting distress after unseasonal rain and hailstorms damaged standing crops while onion prices — often called “red gold” in the state — crashed to as low as 50 paise to Re 1 per kilogram in several mandis, triggering anger and protests among cultivators.

Large parts of Maharashtra witnessed unseasonal rainfall and hailstorms during March and April, damaging rabi crops across more than 1.59 lakh acres of agricultural land. The worst-hit regions include Nashik, Ahmednagar and parts of Marathwada, where onion, wheat, mango, cashew, grape and pomegranate crops suffered extensive losses.

Among them, onion farmers have been hit hardest. Around 44,000 hectares of onion cultivation has reportedly been affected, while market prices have collapsed due to record production, weak exports, inadequate storage infrastructure and declining demand.

Farmer organisations led by the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana have announced a protest march in Mumbai on 15 May. The march will begin from Girgaum Chowpatty and proceed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s official residence Varsha. Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray has extended support to the agitation.

Farmers burn crops in despair

Maharashtra is among India’s largest onion-producing states, with lakhs of farmers dependent on the crop in districts such as Nashik, Ahmednagar, Dharashiv, Beed, Pune and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

Agriculture market experts say rising cultivation costs — including seeds, fertilisers, labour, irrigation and transportation — have sharply increased farmers’ input burden while mandi prices have collapsed below production cost. In several markets, farmers are reportedly receiving only Rs 2 to Rs 5 per kilogram, while some distress sales have occurred at Re 1 or below.

In Dharashiv district’s Tintaraj village, onion farmer Bhagwan Sable allegedly set fire to his own crop after failing to secure viable prices in the market.

Sable had cultivated onions on nearly four acres of land, with produce from around two-and-a-half acres already harvested and packed into 600 sacks. According to him, the crop required an investment of around Rs 3–4 lakh, but mandi prices had fallen to around Re 1 per kilogram, making sale economically unviable.

Similarly, farmer Prakash Galdhar from Varudi village in Paithan taluka of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district reportedly received only Rs 100 per quintal for 1,262 kg of onions packed in 25 sacks — effectively around Re 1 per kilogram.

Demand for MSP, export relief

Farmer groups say onion cultivators are once again staring at mounting debt after hopes of income recovery collapsed this season.

They are demanding an MSP (Minimum Support Price)-like mechanism for onions, government procurement centres and relaxation in export policy restrictions to ensure remunerative prices for farmers.

Farmers have also criticised the Maharashtra government’s compensation announcement of Rs 22,000 per hectare for crop damage, calling it grossly inadequate compared to actual losses.

Farmer organisations claim that mango and cashew crops in several parts of the Konkan region have also been severely damaged, causing losses worth crores of rupees to cultivators.