The woes of Indian farmers do not seem to end. In yet another case, a Maharashtra-based farmer destroyed his entire brinjal plantation after he was offered a meagre 20 paise per kilogram (kg). The extreme step he took was to save himself from incurring even more losses.

Farmer destroyed brinjals to save himself from losses

Rajendra Bawake, a resident of Sakuri village in Ahmednagar district has claimed that even after investing Rs 2 lakh and energy into cultivating brinjal, he could only fetch Rs 65,000. The distraught and irate farmer, who was upset with the outcome, uprooted all brinjal plants on Sunday, December 2.

Bawake told PTI that he had planted brinjal on two acres of land and laid pipes for drip irrigation. He used fertilisers, pesticides and modern mulching techniques to enhance production which pushed the investment cost to Rs 2 lakh.

He claimed that when he tried to sell his produce at the Nashik and Surat markets, he could only fetch 20 paise per kg, which prompted him to take the step. The farmer had been routinely selling his produce in cartons for the last three or four months but he could not get better returns.

He reportedly rears three cows at home and needs money to buy fodder, additionally, he owes dues worth Rs 35,000 to the fertiliser and pesticide suppliers. “I don’t know how I am going to raise that money,” he said.

Farmer woes in different parts of the country

In another similar incident reported from Ahmednagar, a farmer was recorded on video destroying his pomegranate yield after no one bought them even at Rs 10 per kg.

A farmer from Maharashtra takes his anger out on unsold pomegranates. No buyer in mandis even for Rs 10 a kg. Ahmednagar.
P. S. Please don’t ask why he isn’t selling it in a cart. In an area where every other farmer harvests the same crop, that’s not an option pic.twitter.com/zUYEDtkZW3

— Sayantan Bera (@sayantanbera) November 23, 2018

Earlier Sanjay Sathe, a resident of Niphad tehsil in Nashik district had produced 750 kgs of onions this season. Last week Sathe was offered only Rs 1 per kg at Niphad wholesale market. NDTV reported Sathe as telling PTI that after negotiating, he sold 750 kgs of onions at Rs 1,064. Each kilogram was priced at Rs 1.40.

The recent decline in prices of onions has become a reason of distress for India’s farmers. On December 1, farmers held a protest on the Mumbai-Agra National Highway against declining onion prices. Some farmers even tonsured their heads as a mark of protest. While police teams had to rush to the spot to clear traffic jam, the farmers’ concerns continue to persist. They claimed that onion prices were sliding for the last two weeks and the government was unable to stop it. According to The Indian Express, the farmers even submitted a memorandum of their demands to the Sub Divisional Officer. Their demands included procurement of onions by the state government at remunerative prices to make up for the losses.

In Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch mandi, onions were sold for as low as Rs 50 paise per kg which put local farmers in a state of frenzy. Mewalal Patidar, a farmer told The Times Of India, “I would like to throw yield on road instead of selling it for peanuts.”

Not just in Maharashtra, but onion farmers in Karnataka’s Belagavi district also staged a similar protest a fortnight ago and even locked the main gate of Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) following the sudden decline in prices. Sugarcane farmers in different parts of Karnataka protested where they were demanding minimum support price for cane produce and payment of arrears by factories. The farmers were demanding MSP of Rs 3,000 per tonne.

Last Thursday, the farmers’ march in New Delhi made headlines as farmers from different parts of the country converged in the national capital to press their demands which included debt relief and remunerative prices for their produce among others.

While activists and political leaders have slammed the government for laxity in bringing an end to farmer woes in the country, farmers and producers in different parts of the country continue to struggle with a myriad of problems ranging from drought to falling prices.

Also Read:

• Maharashtra Farmer Protests, Dumps 13 Quintal Onions After He Was Offered 5 Paise Per Kg
• Kisan Mukti March: Thousands Of Farmers In Delhi Demands End From Unending Agrarian Crisis
• Maharashtra: Bill Seeking To Amend AMPC Act Withdrawn, A Day After It Was Passed
• Maharashtra: Rs 1,064 For 750 Kg, Angry Onion Farmer Donates The Amount To PM’s Relief Fund