Mumbai APMC onion auction operations face disruption in Navi Mumbai after sacks weighing more than 50 kg were reportedly not accepted for unloading for the past two days, prompting the Maharashtra State Onion Growers’ Association to seek immediate intervention from the market committee and labour representatives.
The association said the weight condition could leave farmers’ onions inside transport vehicles instead of entering the Agricultural Produce Market Committee’s yards for auction. It has urged the authorities to ensure that onion arrivals and auctions continue smoothly, while preventing the restriction from causing direct financial losses to growers.
Bharat Digheole, founding president of the Maharashtra State Onion Growers’ Association, requested intervention from mathadi workers, their leader Narendra Patil, the Mumbai APMC administration and the market committee chairman. The association said that refusing to unload onions solely because a bag weighs more than 50 kg was not appropriate in the current situation.
According to the report, onion prices have recently begun improving in the market. The growers’ organisation has argued that blocking arrivals while prices are favourable could deprive farmers of the benefit of the market movement. The issue places the unloading process, labour arrangements and auction access at the centre of the dispute.
The association also said farmers had stored onions in onion storage facilities for the past seven to eight months. It said growers had faced poor or inadequate returns for their produce over the last several years after investing substantial labour in cultivation and storage. The organisation’s position is that farmers should be able to realise the benefit of current prices rather than face a new operational barrier at the market yard.
Mumbai APMC is a major node in the region’s food distribution network, linking agricultural arrivals with traders and downstream markets. Any interruption in unloading or auctioning can affect the movement of produce through the market, although the supplied report does not provide figures for the quantity of onions held back, the number of affected vehicles or the duration of any auction disruption.
The report also does not state whether the 50-kg condition was introduced by the APMC administration, implemented by labour representatives or linked to a formal notification. It records the farmers’ organisation’s request for intervention but does not include a response from the market committee, the mathadi leadership or the APMC chairman.
The association has called for the restriction not to be enforced in a way that blocks onion arrivals and for auctions to be continued without interruption. The next step identified in the report is intervention by the APMC administration, its chairman and the mathadi representatives to address unloading and auction operations.
