The onion crisis in Maharashtra intensified on Tuesday after hundreds of growers blocked the Mumbai-Agra Highway at Chandwad in Nashik, protesting against what they called an “unacceptable” procurement price announced by the Centre.

The agitation, led under the banner of the ‘Shetkari Kranti Maha Morcha’, erupted after the Union government fixed the Minimum Assured Procurement Price (MAPP) for Rabi onions in Nashik district at Rs 1580 per quintal from May 26. Farmers claimed the rate is below cultivation cost and warned that growers are slipping into financial distress.