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Centre hikes onion procurement price ahead of MVA rally over farmers’ distress
Bharat Dighole, president of the Maharashtra State Onion Growers Association, said that the revised price too will not provide adequate relief to farmers
The Centre on Monday increased the minimum assured procurement price (MAPP) of onion from ₹1,235 per quintal to ₹1,580 per quintal for farmers in Nashik district. The notification issued by the department of consumer affairs (DoCA) came a day before the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s (MVA’s) planned agitation at Chandwad in Nashik district over the distress faced by onion growers due to low wholesale prices at various mandis including Lasalgaon, the country’s largest onion market.
Earlier, the union government had directed the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF) to procure two lakh quintals of onion from farmers at ₹1,235 per quintal. The Centre procures onion annually through these agencies to create a buffer stock and stabilise market prices. Sources associated with the procurement process said that the earlier procurement price failed to attract farmers, who continued to sell their produce in open mandis despite lower returns.
“Since the procurement price was low, farmers were reluctant to sell onion to the two central agencies, which began procurement only last week. With the revised rate, we expect a better response from growers,” sources said.
However, Bharat Dighole, president of the Maharashtra State Onion Growers Association, said that the revised price too will not provide adequate relief to farmers.
“The production cost itself is more than ₹1,800 per quintal. The procurement price should be at least ₹2,500 per quintal to give farmers any meaningful support,” Dighole said.
Senior leaders of the MVA, including Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal, NCP (SP) state chief Shashikant Shinde, and NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar, are expected to participate in Tuesday’s rally to highlight the financial distress of onion growers.
NCP (SP) MP from Dindori, Bhaskar Bhagare, said that the opposition alliance will demand financial assistance for farmers from both the Centre and the state government in view of the continuing fall in onion prices.
