The Centre has begun procuring onions from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, to create a buffer inventory to deal with any sharp rise in costs later throughout the 12 months via the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED).
NAFED has set a goal of procuring round 250,000 tonne this 12 months, the majority of which might be procured from Maharashtra. In Maharashtra, NAFED might be procuring onion via wholesale markets within the Lasalgaon, Pimpalgaon, Pune agriculture produce market committees (APMCs) and neighbouring wholesale markets. Around 90% of the onion might be bought on the prevailing market worth from the wholesale markets and farmers producers’ corporations (FPCs) in and remaining 10% from and different onion rising states, officers mentioned.
Market committee officers mentioned that NAFED has procured 5,149 quintals in a few days. NAFED had procured almost 200,000 tonne final 12 months from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The Centre has been making a buffer inventory of onions for the previous few years to stabilise the wholesale onion costs and meet the demand in case of a shortage scenario that often arises between July and September. Onions from buffer shares are then launched in a calibrated method via retail intervention to retail companies/states/UTs and for open market sale throughout the lean season or interval, to comprise costs and availability.
According to Narendra Wadhavane, secretary, Lasalgaon APMC, there was an increase of Rs 200 per quintal within the common wholesale onion costs, from Rs 900 per quintal final week to Rs 1,100 per quintal this week. Market arrivals have been within the vary of 12,000 quintals to fifteen,000 quintals in Lasalgaon and neighbouring markets as nicely. The arrival of contemporary summer time onions has elevated in most mandis leading to a pointy drop in costs in some markets. Earlier, the arrivals of the summer time onions have been round 20% of whole provide of 15,000 quintals a day at Lasalgaon round every week again, whereas the remaining 80% of the arrivals have been of late kharif onions. Now, the availability of summer time onions has now elevated to 75% of the whole provide of the onions and the remaining 25% of the arrivals are of late kharif onions. Summer onions are fetching good costs as in comparison with the late kharif onions.
PK Gupta, director, National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF), mentioned the drop in onion costs is due to greater manufacturing and a drop in exports. Several states together with Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have elevated the realm below onion cultivation resulting in elevated provides out there, he identified. Prices might drop additional except exports decide up, he mentioned. This season, the realm below cultivation of summer time onions, that are harvested in March and April, has elevated by 40% this 12 months throughout Nashik district to 2.11 lakh hectares. The onion plantations within the district have been broken as a result of rainfall final 12 months, making a shortage of onions. Farmers had fetched higher costs for his or her produce.
Hence, a lot of the farmers most popular planting summer time onions which led to an increase in acreage. There are three cycles of onion in a 12 months — kharif, late and summer time onions. The shelf lifetime of kharif and late kharif onions is lower than a month and the produce get rotten thereafter. On the opposite hand, summer time onions have a shelf lifetime of round six months and farmers favor storing onions with the hope of getting higher costs. The late kharif onions have a shelf lifetime of lower than a month they usually begin rotting thereafter. Hence, farmers don’t have any choice however to promote the late kharif produce on the prevailing market charges.
The worth development of common wholesale onion costs is anticipated to be downward in April and May, officers mentioned. India’s onion manufacturing is estimated to extend by 16.81 % to 31.12 million tonne (mt) within the crop 12 months starting July 2022 on probably improve in acreage. The nation had harvested 26.64 mt of onion within the 2021-22 crop 12 months (July-June). According to first advance estimates shared by the agriculture ministry, the realm sown for onion cultivation is estimated to be greater at 1.91 million hectares within the 2022-23 crop 12 months from 1.62 million hectares in 2021-22.
Source: www.financialexpress.com”