Onion export ban triggers protests among farmers, traders in Gujarat

Farmers & traders in Gujarat protest Centre's overnight ban on onion export, causing prices to crash & disrupting trading.

Overnight ban on export of onion by the Centre issued on December 7 has triggered widespread protests by the farmers and traders in Gujarat, second largest onion growing state in the country, where farmers are taking to the streets while traders have suspended onion trading in main markets in the state. 

For almost a week, onion farmers and traders in the main markets in Mahuva, Gondal and Rajkot have been protesting after the Centre imposed a blanket ban on export of onions from midnight of December 8 onwards. 

As abrupt ban to exports onion in the midst of harvesting season came into effect, prices in APMC mandis in the state crashed from around ₹4,000 per quintal to ₹2,500 per quintal, a steep drop of more than 35 % dashing the farmers’ expectations of better prices of their produce. 

Since the ban became effective, trading of onion has remained suspended in Mahuva, which is the second largest onion hub in the country, and Gondal, another key market in Gujarat. 

On Thursday, farmers blocked National Highway in Gondal and forced to cancel auction and wholesale trading of onion at APMCs in Mahuva and Gondal, angry farmers shut the gates of markets and even threw away their crops on the streets. 

“We had to cancel the auction and trading of onion after protests by the farmers,” said Tarun Pachani, Secretary of Gondal APMC. 

Similarly in Mahuva also, farmers forced to scrap the trading that was to resume on Thursday, first time after the export ban came into effect.