That farmers have it tough in India, is a universally known fact. They do all the hard work and get almost nothing in return. The changing climate and weather irregularities affect them the most as their livelihood depends on natural resources. In a recent demonstration of these hardships, a farmer who was 58 years old walked about 70 kilometres from his village to Solapur and sold 512 kilogrammes of onions at just a measly ₹2 profit.
Old Farmer Walked 70 KM, Sold 512 KG Onions And Earned Only ₹2
Rajendra Tukaram Chavan, a farmer who is 58 years old, had to walk 70 KM in order to sell his onion produce of this year. The total weight of the produce was 512 KG. In order to sell the onion, he made his way to Solapur to the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC).
However, when he got there, he was confronted by an extremely disheartening situation. He was told that since his produce was of relatively lower quality, he could only sell it at ₹1 per KG. This means the entire 512 KG of onion would be sold at ₹512. But that’s not all, the APMC trader then proceeded to deduct various fees like weighing, loading, transport, etc., from the ₹512.
All the deductions totalled were ₹509.5 which were taken from his ₹512. This left him with a measly sum of ₹2.49. Furthermore, he said that since the bank transactions were only done in round figures, the 49 paise will not show up in the cheque.
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An All-Too-Common Occurrence
As it turns out, this heartbreaking occurrence is all too common for farmers. There was even a short film made by Yashowardhan Mishra called Mandi, on this exact issue. You can watch it below.
Chavan said that he spent close to ₹40,000 on growing these onions since the price of seeds has increased exponentially over the past years. However, since there has been an increase in onion production this year, the wholesale price has dipped significantly. He also shared that last year, he sold his onion produce at ₹18 and ₹14 per KG.
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What do you think about this disheartening situation? Let us know in the comments below!
Cover Image Credits: Pxhere