Farmers from Bagalkot, Gadag, Vijayapura and other areas in North Karnataka blocked the Pune-Bengaluru highway due to the drastic fall in onion prices.
Onions which were between Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,500 per quintal last week have suddenly dropped to Rs 800-Rs 1,200 per quintal on Thursday. This resulted in many farmers refusing the sell their produce for that price. Many argued with merchants that the price of onions was Rs 3,500 just the day before. The farmers assumed the merchants were cheating them by paying a lower price only to sell them at a higher price later on.
Farmers started a protest later on in the day which blocked the Pune-Bengaluru road in front of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee demanding better prices.
The issue was later resolved and farmers eventually allowed merchants to buy their stock.
