5.
Onions in Chakan : First Spark Onions are eaten in all parts of India but much of it is produced in just five talukas of Pune and Nashik districts. Chakan and its vicinity is a major onion growing centre. In his own farm, apart from cucumber and potato, onion was the main crop for Joshi. It takes about five months for onion crop to be ready for market. The cost of production used to be roughly Rs. 45 to 60 per quintal in those days; but the market rate was always less, at times falling to as low as Rs. 15 a quintal. No wonder that despite having a monopoly over the crop, farmers in the area remained impoverished. The rate sometimes did not cover even the cost of removing it from fields and taking it to the market. So frustrated was Joshi with this situation that once he had even released a small ad in a Pune daily announcing, “Anyone who wants onion can come to my farm and collect it free of cost!” Why the onion prices used to be so low and fluctuating? One reason was that onion was a perishable commodity. You could not store it on the farm for long. The farmer did not have the capacity to wait either. He was keen to sell the produce as early as possible, at whatever price he could get, because he lived hand to mouth. Transport also was a problem. To save the cost of packing in sacks, onion used to be loaded loose in a truck. That led to some wastage which could not be helped. After taking it to the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) at Chakan, it Onions in Chakan : First Spark
Q
97
