India, March 30 -- As the wholesale price of onion has nearly halved to Rs.800 per quintal in the wake of the war in west Asia, making it difficult for farmers to recover their production costs, the largest onion farmers' association in Maharashtra has urged chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to implement the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS), a central government policy to protect farmers from distress sale when prices fall below the cost of production.

In a letter to the chief minister dated March 28, the Nashik-based Maharashtra Onion Producer Farmers' Association said in the previous four weeks, the war had stranded more than 150 containers packed with onions in various ports, leading to a glut in domestic markets and sending wholesale ...