Red vs White | Maharashtra farmers fume over 'pro-Gujarat' onion export ban

Onion farmers in poll-bound Maharashtra are crying foul over alleged “injustice” meted out to them by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

In their view, the government's policies favour the white onion-growing farmers in Gujarat, completely overlooking the plight of Maharashtra farmers engaged in red onion cultivation. 

White onions are not widely used in India, while red onions are favoured for their pungent flavour. But white onions have a good market in Europe, the US, Mexico, Canada and West Asian countries.

Export ban distress

According to onion farmers in Maharashtra, the Union government continues to ban red onion exports but allows the export of white onions, which benefits the farmers in Gujarat.

Gujarat is India's largest producer of white onions and manufacturer of dried white onion products. Maharashtra is the largest producer of red onions in the country.

In 2023-24, Gujarat farmers saw record-breaking exports of white dehydrated onions and their byproducts, thanks largely to the Centre-imposed ban on red onion exports.

December 2023 move

The government’s decision to ban onion exports in December 2023 to control domestic prices impacted most farmers in Maharashtra and Gujarat. However, Gujarat farmers exported a record 83,452 tonnes of dehydrated white onion in the same fiscal year, which addressed some of its concerns. 

What stung Maharashtra farmers was that when the Centre did partially lift the ban on onion exports subsequently, it chose to export 2,000 tonnes of white onions from Gujarat, which brought substantial relief to the farmers of the region.

This move came after a Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) notification saying white onion exports will be permitted upon certification from Gujarat’s Horticulture Commissioner to ensure quality and quantity standards are met.

This led to protests from red onion farmers across the country. The exemption given for white onion exports was seen as an attempt to benefit Gujarat at the cost of Maharashtra.

Much resentment

Bharat Dighole, president of the Onion Growers’ Association, Maharashtra, told The Federal: “Such government policies which allowed the export of white onions while keeping the ban on red onion exports are completely wrong. These decisions partially benefit Gujarat, neglecting the interests of red onion-producing regions like Maharashtra.”

According to Dighole, there is a lot of resentment among the farmers of Maharashtra on this issue.

Further, he pointed out, “Farmers were already grappling with the onion export ban since December 2023 that has resulted in huge financial losses. But now, Gujarat has been permitted to export 2,000 tonnes of white onion. It is clearly an injustice to us.”

Massive protest

Sagar Rabari, president of Khedut Samaj, a Gujarat-based farmers rights body, in a chat with The Federal, recalled how in December 2023, the red onion farmers of Maharashtra and some red onion growing pockets of Gujarat staged a massive protest on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Highway.

“While some farmers were dumping their crop on the highway to block the road, several others were ploughing their standing crop owing to a drastic price drop of red onion prices after the export ban,” he recalled. At the same time, the auction of white onions had resumed in the Mahuva APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee), Bhavnagar district, he added.

Meanwhile, the white onion farmers of Bhavnagar, Rajkot and Amreli districts in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat are happy, looking forward to the upcoming export season from February to July 2025.

Tide turns for Gujarat farmers

While Maharashtra farmers are crying foul, the white onion farmers in Gujarat were also in the doldrums before 2023. They were hit hard by cyclones, climate change (impacting crops), and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Most of their dried product units were on the verge of shutting down. 

“Around 50 per cent of the units were on the verge of shutting down. We were incurring huge losses due to the extended summer that impacted our crops. Also, there was a spike in coal and freight rates,” Nanavati Koradiya, a white onion farmer from Mahuva, Bhavnagar, told The Federal.

“Due to low production owing to the extended summers, the prices of white onion soared to ₹250 for 20 kg during 2021, while the prices of the dried products fell from over ₹200 to ₹110-₹150 for 20 kg owing to a decline in export,” he explained.

“Instead of growing white onions, farmers had to shift to sowing seasonal vegetables in 2020 and 2021. We couldn’t sell our produce during the season in 2021. Later, in May, the cyclone destroyed our remaining crops, pushing most of us to a dire financial crisis,” Ghanshyam Patel, president of the Mahuva APMC, told The Federal.

Onion ban a 'boon'

“After the Russia-Ukraine war began, the export demand from European markets went down," Manoj Ram, president of the All India Vegetable Dehydration Association, told The Federal. "Payment cycles too had been stretched and this impacted our exports.”

In May 2021, Cyclone Tauktae wreaked havoc on the region, massively damaging the products. Bhavnagar, a big onion producer, suffered a loss of around ₹300 crore.

Although the farmers received compensation, they did not revive production until 2023. The ban on red onion "actually came as a boon for us," Ram admitted.

Domestic demand

Also, a jubilant Ghanshyam Patel said the demand for white onions suddenly surged not only abroad but in domestic markets too.

"Now the farmers are looking forward to another bumper season in February 2025 and new processing units are coming up in Mahuva,” he added.

Data from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) reveal that Gujarat recorded a 67 per cent increase in the annual export of dehydrated white onion and its byproducts last fiscal. This marked a four-year high.

Rising numbers

The average export per month during the period rose to 8,000 tonnes as compared to 6,000 tonnes per month in the period from FY21 to FY22.

Gujarat exported 50,052 tonnes of white onion in 2019-20, 62,466 tonnes in 2020-21 and 75,426 tonnes in 2022-23.

There are about 160 dehydration units in Gujarat that produce dried white onion, dried garlic and powder spices, flakes, granules from the bulb of white onions. About 120 of these units are based out of Bhavnagar district while the rest are scattered across neighboring Amreli and Rajkot districts.

Together, they form about 2 per cent of the total onion farmers in the country.