New Delhi: Nafed has so far purchased 25000 tonnes of Onion to make Buffer Stock on behalf of the government. These purchases were made from farmer producer organizations (FPOs), cooperative societies and direct procurement centers at prevailing rates. Last year, Nafed purchased a total of 57,000 tonnes of onions from the 2018-19 Rabi (winter) crop.
Nafed said that this time the target is to buy one lakh tonnes of onions from major producing states. Keeping in view the declining prices amid good onion yields, the government has cautiously removed NAFED in the domestic market for government procurement. The cooperative agency Nafed has decided to create a buffer stock of one lakh tonnes of onions in the current season, which is the highest ever.
The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Association of India (NAFED) said
In a statement that this initiative will help to stabilize domestic prices of onions during the outbreak of Covid-19 epidemic and will also keep prices down in the onion shortage months. NAFED has already bought 25,000 tonnes of onions at prevailing rates.
This purchase is being done through FPOs, cooperative societies as well as direct procurement centers in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. At present, the price of onion of good average quality is between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,400 per quintal. Onion prices in major cities are between Rs 20 and Rs 30 per kg.
Let us tell you that onion prices had crossed Rs 100 last year. The government had prepared a buffer stock of 56,000 tonnes of onions in the last year but it failed to contain the rising price. In view of this, the government had decided to create a buffer stock of 1 lakh tonnes of onions in 2020.
Onion production has increased to 2.67 million tonnes
in the year 2019-20 as compared to 2.28 million tonnes in the previous year. This is expected to keep the price under control throughout the year. But in view of this, when the prices in the domestic market started to fall, the government dropped its agency in the mandis for the purchase of buffer stock. Technical services are being taken to keep onion stocks safe. The project launched in Madhya Pradesh to preserve onion quality has been successful.
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