A farmer in Madhya Pradesh burned 160 kg of garlic during an open auction in Mandsaur (around 350 kilometres) from the state capital Bhopal, to express his frustration with not receiving a fair price for his produce. After attempting to sell his products to wholesale sellers at the Mandsaur Mandi, Shankar Sirfira of Deoli was compelled to take drastic measures.
The video of the incident circulating on social media showed people standing around the burning heap of garlic and shouting patriotic slogans. In this video, the farmer is saying 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan' (Long live farmer) after lighting fire to the massive crop has gone viral.
The Mandi workers and other farmers were quick to respond, dousing the flames and saving more damage to the wholesale market.
“Although I spent Rs 5,000 on transportation of the produce & bring it here, I only received Rs 1,100 from the buyers. Since, the produce wasn't worth the price, I thought it is wiser to burn it. This season, I invested Rs 2.5 lakh on garlic cultivation but only earned 1 lakh in the market," Shankar remarked.
The farmer was taken to the police station for questioning, but Jitendra Pathak, the in-charge of the YD Nagar police station, said, "Since no harm was made to other farmers' produce by the fire, no case has been filed against the concerned farmer."
Mandsaur is stated to be one of the biggest mandis in the state and farmers from neighbouring districts sell their produce here. Farmers usually get a good price for their garlic, but now they are facing difficulties in even getting the cost price.
This isn't the first time the farmers' outbursts of rage have been captured on camera. In August, a farmer in Nashik, Maharashtra, was caught on video tossing tomatoes in the street after wholesale market prices plummeted.
