Onion market chain and power relations there in: a study of Nashik district in Maharashtra, India

In recent years, with increase in marketable surplus of agro commodities, agrarian crises are predominantly linked with the failures of agricultural markets due to its intricate nature. The instability in agro-commodity prices is associated with the economics of demand and supply fuelled by the clash of interests between the producers, the consumers and the market middlemen. This study tries to examines the hierarchical agricultural market structure and the existing power relations among the different stakeholders with strong focus on the onion value chain. It emphasises the vulnerabilities faced by the small-scale farmers and how through concentrated progressive policy measures, keeping farmers interest at the forefront, may improve their livelihoods. It is seen that market inefficiency has an adverse impact on the overall farm economics which pushes the farmer to become over leveraged. Moreover, the vague policies make no coherent roadmap to acknowledge the deep-rooted structural problems of agricultural markets. This makes it difficult to imagine a future for farmers devoid of vulnerabilities and stable livelihood. The study unravelled the role of value chain actors in influencing the prices of onion at the APMC market Lasalgaon, Nashik. The onion farmers always find themselves at the mercy of the market intermediaries to get a proper price for their produce which could at least covers up their cost of production. This uncertainty pushes them to the brink of and has an adverse socio-economic impact on the rural livelihood. The increasing role of globalized value chains in providing better remuneration to the farmers is also confined to particular sectors only and is in no way a panacea for complex farmer problems. Finally, the paper concludes that farmers are poorly placed in the onion value chain and their profit margin are highly influenced by the actions of the other value chain partakers.