Garlic used to be sold at Rs 2,500 a quintal earlier. But after the window for selling garlic under the Bhavanter Bhugtaan Yojana (BBY) scheme was opened a few months ago, the prices fell to Rs 800 a quintal. The Farmer had cultivated garlic on his one-hectare land hoping to make some money after a disastrous experience with soybean, the main Kharif crop. But the recent price crash has left him devastated. He now has just stopped going to the Mandi and stored the crop, expecting to get a better price in the future.
A few years ago, we used to say, if someone took a trolly full of garlic to the Mandi, he might end up buying a new tractor on his way back home. But now it seems even the tractor that the farmer possesses might have to be sold to pay for the expenditure,” rues Santosh Rathore from Soni village of Mandsaur.
I can't wait for long. As soon as the monsoon comes, garlic will start getting soiled. And by winter I might have to dispose of these at dirt cheap rates," says Rathore, pointing towards sacks of garlic stored in his outhouse
Once considered the last resort for farmers in a bad year, garlic has this time left farmers in Mandsaur and Neemuch, the main growing regions of Madhya Pradesh, in the lurch.
According to the official data from the National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation (NHDRF), the garlic prices in Mandsaur and Indore Mandis have dropped by almost 59 percent between March and May this year when compared with the same period in 2017.
Once considered the last resort for farmers in a bad year, garlic has this time left farmers in Mandsaur and Neemuch, the main growing regions of Madhya Pradesh, in the lurch.
This has been a season of a bumper harvest and garlic has also been included in the Bhavanter Bhugtaan Yojana (BBY) by the state. But the prices have, in fact, started falling more since garlic's inclusion in the popular BBY scheme.
Garlic used to be sold at Rs 2,500 a quintal earlier. But after the window for selling garlic under the BBY scheme was opened a few months ago, the prices fell to Rs 800 a quintal.
Meanwhile, in the rally of Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Mandsaur, many speakers raised the issue of declining garlic prices. Gandhi himself repeatedly asked the gathering about the price at which they sold garlic this year and how different it was from the previous years.
