Onion Maharashtra
By S Jha
New Delhi, October 28: Onion is selling at Rs 70 a kg in weekly haats in the neighbourhood of the national capital region (NCR). Elsewhere onion is seen commanding prices even in the range of Rs 80-90 per kg. Tomato is also giving a close company to onion in setting the kitchen budget on fire by selling at Rs 50 a kg and more.
Sharp price spikes in onion and tomato have come within a span of a few days, forcing the Central government to once more resort to the regulation of the export of the key vegetables. On Saturday, the Centre notified Minimum Export Price (MEP) of $800 per MT, FOB basis, on onion export with effect from October 29, 2023, till December 31, 2023.
“The measure has been taken to maintain sufficient availability of onion to domestic consumers at affordable prices as the quantity of stored Rabi 2023 onion is declining by curbing the quantity of onion exports. The MEP of $800 per MT translates into about Rs.67/kg,” said the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in a media statement on Saturday.
The Centre is also seeking to procure additional two lakh tons of onion for the buffer, over and above the 5 lakh tons already procured. “Onion from the buffer has been disposed continuously from the second week of August in major consumption centres all over the country, and also supplied to retail consumers at Rs. 25/kg through mobile vans operated by NCCF and NAFED. Till date about 1.70 lakh Metric Tons of onion has been disposed from the buffer,” added the Ministry.
Food inflation had cooled in September as it rose by 6.56 per cent only against 9.94 per cent in the month of August this year. Food inflation accounts for nearly half of the overall consumer price basket. Incidentally, the prices of tomato and onion were almost half or ever less last month. Experts had been stating that vegetable prices were the principal culprit in stoking up the inflation in the previous two months.
Vegetable inflation had come down 3.39 per cent in the month of September against 26.14 per cent in the month of August. The sharp rise in the prices of onion is being attributed to the shortage of production in Maharashtra, which is the largest producer in the country of the staple kitchen vegetable bulb.
“In the past three years, from July to September, Maharashtra experienced heavy rainfall in just a few days. As a result, onion growers are avoiding plantations during the main Kharip season. Instead, they are increasing plantations during the late Kharif season, which takes place in October and November,” said Deepak Chavan, and agriculture expert in a post on Linkedin, while explaining increase in onion supply in January and February this year.
The government, however, is actively intervening to tame the prices of key vegetables “The continuous procurement and disposal of onion from the buffer are undertaken to moderate the prices for consumers while ensuring remunerative prices to the onion farmers. The decision to impose the MEP of $800 per MT shows the determination of the Government to keep onion affordable to the domestic consumers,” added the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution.
Incidentally, India’s onion export during April 2022 to February 2023 was 22.7 lakh tons, which was 68.8 per cent higher than last year during the same months when India exported a total of 13.4 lakh tons.
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