Farmer Earns only Rs 1064 by Selling 750 kg Onions and Sends to PM's Fund

Guwahati: Onion-grower from Maharashtra, Sanjay Sathe, who after tiring cultivation of onion, had to sell off his entire cultivated onion just for a little over Rs 1 per kg of onion, had no way out but to send off his total income to the prime minister of the country.

Heartbroken, despaired, disappointed and furious of the administration system, this farmer from Maharashtra’s Niphad tehsil in Nashik district had grown total 750 kgs of onion after a tiring cultivation of four months. But this was beyond his expectation to find that the wholesale rate of onion in the market at present is only a little over Rs 1 per kg.

Sanjay, expressing his fury and grief over the current wholesale market, states, “It was painful to see such paltry returns on four months of toil. Hence I have donated Rs 1,064 to the Disaster Relief Fund of the PMO as a protest. I had to pay an additional Rs 54 for sending it by money order."

The very decision of the farmer to deposit his entire earning in the PM’s Disaster relief fund points at the pain he is feeling at the devastated condition of agricultural productions. Notably, Sanjay was one among those 'progressive farmers’ who were being selected by the Union agriculture ministry for an interaction with then US President Barack Obama back in 2010 when the US president had visited India.

Sanjay also expressed his state of mind in front of media. He added that his total production in this season was 750 kg, but this was shocking for him to see a rate of Rs 1 per kg being offered at Niphad wholesale market. It was only after some negotiations that he could settle at a deal for Rs 1.40 per kg and received Rs 1,064 for 750 kg. this was, indeed a painful moment for him to see such paltry returns after four months of toil. This made him take the strong decision of donating Rs 1,064 to the Disaster Relief Fund of the PMO as a protest. In fact, he had to pay an additional Rs 54 for sending the money by money order.

Sanjay’s donation of the money to the PM’s fund is a mark of strong protest against the pathetic rates of vegetable and other cultivated products in India.

Also read: Farmers in Sikkim Starts Agitation Demanding Compensation for Lost Land