Onion farmers languish even as traders ride on arbitrage to double profits

Modus operandi: Buy in Lasalgoan at Rs 4 a kg, sell in the north at Rs 11-13

Labourers sorting onions. Most farmers in Lasalgaon in Maharashtra's Nashik district aren't even able to recover the bare cost of productionOnion traders in the Lasalgaon district of Nashik, Maharashtra, have found an arbitrage opportunity in transporting the bulb to north India, mainly Punjab.

Onion traded on Friday between Rs 3.50 and Rs 6 a kg in the Lasalgaon mandi, the largest spot market for onions in Asia. This price is sharply lower than the estimated cost of production of Rs 5 a kg. Most farmers in Nashik are