Indian onion growers have urged the National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) to procure onions at a rate of Rs 30 per kg. The Nafed has been given a target of procuring 250,000 tons of onions to create a buffer stock for the federal government and the agency has already started with the process of making procurements.
Bharat Dighole, president of Maharashtra state onion-growers’ association, said the cost of production for growing onions has increased to Rs 20 per kg due to rise in prices of seeds, fertilizers and other farming activities.
He said: “The Nafed has started procuring onions from APMCs, but is paying only Rs 12 for every kg. Hence, in the interest of farmers, we want Nafed to procure onions directly from farmers through auctions at APMCs at a price of Rs 30 a kg.”
Last year too, Nafed procured 200,000 tons of onions from the wholesale markets across the country, but over 90% of the produce was bought from Maharashtra. The Centre has been creating a buffer stock of onions for the past few years to stabilize the wholesale price of onions and deal with scarcity that could arise between July and September.
[ Rs100 = €1.20 ]
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com