A farmer from Karanjgaon village in Nashik district has claimed to have got the rate of 5 paise per kg for onions, prompting him to dump his produce of 13 quintals in his field in protest, even as a trader blamed “poor quality” of bulb for the low price.

Sudhakar Darade, who hails from Niphad taluka, said his onions got valued at Rs. 5 per quintal (100 kg) at Saikheda sub-agriculture produce market committee (APMC) on Tuesday. He said his entire produce of 13 quintals was offered a rate of Rs. 65 in total.

The distressed farmer said he incurred more than Rs. 700 per acre for cultivating onions and paid Rs. 780 towards transportation charges for bringing the produce to the APMC. Upset over the valuation, the farmer returned home and threw 13 quintal of onion in his field.

Nashik district is known for production of red onions. The onion market in Lasalgaon in district is Asia’s largest wholesale APMC for onions.

Meanwhile, protesting against the low price of onions, Nashik unit of NCP on Wednesday dumped onions on the premises of all taluka offices in the district, demanding the Minimum Support Price at Rs. 2,000 per quintal.