Nashik: The Nashik unit of NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) has decided to take out a Akrosh march in protest against the Centres anti-farmer policies in Dindori on December 1. Around 15,000 people and 500 tractors will participate in the march. The march will end at the office of the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) in Dindori.The Nashik district president (Sharad Pawar faction) on Tuesday conducted a meeting with all the taluka chiefs of the party in the city to review preparations. Kondaji Awhad, NCPs Nashik district president, said that farmers are facing a drought-like situation. Additionally, they have to deal with the crash in prices of onions, tomatoes and other crops due to the faulty policies of the central government. When onion farmers had started fetching good rates by selling their produce in the APMCs following a rise in wholesale prices, the Centre imposed 40% duty on onion exports and also levied minimum export price (MEP) of Rs 67 per kg. This led to drop in wholesale onion prices at large. As a result, farmers had to incur losses, said Awhad. Similarly, farmers here were getting better prices for tomatoes in July-August period. But the prices crashed after the Centre decided to import tomatoes from Nepal. Farmers could not even manage their production cost, said Awhad.There have been drought-like situations in almost all talukas of the district due to inadequate rains during monsoon. But the state government declared drought only for three talukas instead of all the 15 talukas. Hence, we will also demand the state government to declare all the talukas in the district drought-affected, he said.We also published the following articles recentlyRemove minimum export price norms, develop new markets: Punjab to CentreThe Punjab government has called on the central government to remove all minimum export price (MEP) norms on basmati rice and develop new export markets in order to promote diversification towards basmati and address the issue of stubble burning. The government has also requested MSP-based assured procurement for various crops including basmati, maize, cotton, moong, and groundnut, and an increase in ethanol ex-mill prices derived from maize feedstock. Furthermore, Punjab has proposed a ban on the procurement of long-duration rice varieties and the extension of subsidies for large balers and biomass power initiatives.Congress to step up fight against Centre over drought relief delayThe Congress party in Karnataka is planning to protest against the BJP-led central government for the delay in granting drought relief. Despite pressure from the state government to release funds from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), the central government has allegedly been slow in responding. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has written to several ministers urging them to expedite the process. The Congress party intends to turn this issue into an election plank and launch protests in both New Delhi and Bengaluru. They accuse the BJP of indulging in politics and not prioritizing relief efforts.Tomato prices rise as supply to retail outlets in city fallsTomato prices in Pune have soared, with prices now ranging from Rs 40 to 60 per kg, compared to Rs 20 to 30 per kg two weeks ago. Wholesale prices at the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) have risen over 200% from Rs 5-8 per kg to Rs 15-20 per kg. The price hike is due to a shortage of tomatoes caused by damaged crops from heavy rainfall. Farmers who abandoned their plantations during a previous price crash are now unable to benefit from the increased prices.

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