Centre to Buy 2 Lakh Tonne Onions from MP

New Delhi: In view of the decline in prices of onions, the central government has announced to procure 2,00,000 tonnes of the crop from Madhya Pradesh to safeguard the interest of farmers.

There has been a sharp decline in the wholesale prices of onion which have fallen below Rs 6 per kg in Madhya Pradesh. The decline in the prices of onion is attributed to its higher production during late kharif season of 2016-17.

The aim of this onion procurement programme is to protect the producers against sharp fall in price during the higher production year.

Madhya Pradesh is India’s second largest producer of onion and produces about 26-28 lakh tonnes of onions annually.

The government has engaged the Madhya Pradesh State Cooperative Marketing Federation Ltd (MP-Markfed) to procure onions at Rs.5,867/tonne for fair and average quality (FAQ) of the crop with overhead costs of Rs.1,467/tonne or actual, whatever is below.

The decision to procure onions comes close on the wheels of agitations by farmers in Madhya Pradesh who are demanding higher support prices for produce.