Farmer razes 1-acre cabbage crop as prices tank amid lockdown

Aurangabad, Apr 23 () Upset over a trader offeringone-sixth of the market price for his produce, a farmer inOsmanabad district has razed his entire one-acre cabbage crop.

Umaji Chavan, a resident of Jagdalwadi village ofOmerga tehsil, said the price offered by traders who buy thesevegetables from farmers was so low that he was left with nooption but to take the extreme step of razing the entire crop.

"I razed the entire cabbage field with the help of atractor and a rotor," Chavan told on Friday.

Due to the ongoing lockdown - which is now over amonth old in Maharashtra, where it was put in place before thenational lockdown began - the demand, transport and sale ofvegetables has become a big problem for farmers, he said.

"We tried to sell cabbage in the market at Omerga,which is 20 km away from my village. We were offered Rs 20 for50 kg produce. The price I was offered is almost one-sixth ofthe normal selling price in the market," he said.

"I have spent almost Rs one lakh to cultivate thecabbage crop on the one-acre field. I expected a reasonablereturn on investment but had I sold the produce at the askingrate, I would not have got even one-fifth of the amount I putin," Chavan said.

"There are big markets like Solapur and Hyderabad,where I could have got a better price. But Solapur is 100 kmfrom my village, and Hyderabad is 200 km away. Transportationto these cities amid lockdown is difficult," he said. AWVTVT VT