Chennai: The Union Cabinet's approval to remove onion from the list of essential commodities has come as a rude shock for the farmers.
The Union Government has notified the removal of onion, potatoes, cereals, pulses, edible oils and seeds from the list of essential commodities.
What the government says :
The government explained that the legislation would enable farmers to save more on produce and sell their produce at deserved price. But the farmers refute the government's explanation on the score that this would result in the hoarding of the produce by middlemen leading to price rise.
Most of the small onions are cultivated in Namakkal, Perambalur, Pollachi, Theni and Coimbatore districts of Tamil Nadu. It is a three-month crop that can grow in all types of soil, including red soil and clay. In fields with good water ducts, yields can be up to 10 tonnes per acre. All the farmers have been heavily disturbed by the government's announcement.
Why are the farmers anxious even after the government's explanation?
Firstly, this announcement may create an environment for buying from farmers at lower prices. It is possible to create artificial scarcity by hoarding. Thus, it is not the farmers but the big businesses that will benefit from this.
Commenting on this, Perumal, district president of the Tamil Nadu Farmers' association said, “Similarly a few years ago, the Central Government removed sugar from the essential commodities list. No farmer has benefited. The farmers are fighting, demanding an enhanced price for the sugar canes. The public is also buying more sugar at a higher cost. This only benefits the owners, not the ones who toil. Exclusion of certain commodities including onion, potato and grains from the list of essential commodities will be beneficial to the corporates and not to us.”
With the announcement of the Central Government, the supply of subsidized seeds, fertilizers and pesticides on behalf of the State will be stopped. Because of such a move, the farmers will be forced to buy seeds from private companies.
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The government's reasoning that 'farmers can save their products in larger quantities and sell them at a lucrative price' is untenable in the case of the small onions. This raises the question of how farmers can store large amounts of onions that can rot very quickly.
Muthusamy, a farmer hailing from Puduchatram, said, “This law will benefit not the peasants but the corporate and the black market mafias. The government should restore onion in the list of essential commodities. That only will be beneficial to the farmers.”
“The amendment to the Essential Commodities Act will not give farmers or consumers any benefit. This will only be the beginning of handing over agriculture to large corporates,” says Venkatesh, a farmer of the Kadandhappatti village.
