The Farmers Protection Association has sought that the state government procures tomato and onions directly from the farmers and staged demonstrations at the Tirupur Collectorate.
Tirupur: Farmers Welfare Association staged a protest demanding that the state government has to procure onions and tomatoes has to be directly from the farmers.
An attention-seeking protest was held in front of the District Collectorate in Tirupur by the Tamil Nadu Farmers Protection Association demanding that the Union Government fix the price at Rs 30 per kg for small onions and Rs.15 per kg of tomatoes and urged the Tamil Nadu government to procure tomatoes and onions directly from the farmers and sells them.
With no right price fixed for the farmers' produce, the farmers' livelihoods are going down across the country. The small onions are now procured from farmers only for a fixed cost per kg in Tamil Nadu. Farmers will gain only if the cost is fixed at a certain rate per kg. Similarly, tomatoes are selling for Rs.5 per kg and only if there are sold for at least Rs.15 per kg.
The agitators stated that farmers who have borrowed money have suffered severe losses due to the fall in prices and the Prime Minister had said in the manifesto and campaign that a minimum base price would be fixed for all products in addition to the cost of production by 50 per cent.
Stating that this is not yet implemented during his tenure, the Farmers Protection Society of Tamil Nadu protested by dumping small onions and tomatoes on the ground in front of the Tirupur District Collectorate, demanding an increase of 50 per cent in the cost of production and minimum pricing for manufacturing products and immediate procurement of small onions tomatoes through cooperative societies at a minimum base price.