Onion Price : Controversy continues over the price of onions. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s statement has come after the uproar in Nashik, Maharashtra. He said that the state government is with the farmers in the matter of onion. He further said that procurement is going on at 13 centers of NAFED. The Union Agriculture Minister and the Union Commerce Minister have been requested to increase the procurement at these centres. Eknath Shinde also said that 500 metric tonnes of onions have been purchased by NAFED so far. Through the letter, a request has been made to increase the number of purchase centers in view of the availability of onions with the farmers.
‘Lack of coordination in Maharashtra government’
Nationalist Congress Party leader Supriya Sule on Thursday hit out at the Maharashtra government for the ongoing agitation in the state over export duty imposed on onions, saying the coalition government was exhibiting “complete policy inertia” and in this There is lack of coordination. Farmers and vendors in Nashik have been protesting since Monday against the central government’s decision to impose 40 per cent export duty on onions. This decision taken by the central government on August 19 is valid till December 31.
APMC onion auction affected from Monday
Onion auction in Nashik’s APMC, including Lasalgaon, has been affected since Monday, while farmers also took to the streets demanding cancellation of the export duty decision. The farmers blocked the Mumbai-Agra highway in Chandwad, which was later removed by the police. Speaking to reporters, NCP working president Supriya Sule said, “I have been raising the onion issue with (Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister) Piyush Goyal through social media for the last four months.” I told him that there is excessive production of onions in the country and there is a shortage in some parts of the world.
Center requested to bring a clear policy
He said, ‘I talked about the opportunity of onion export and requested (the Center) to bring a clear policy, but unfortunately, nothing was done.’ The NCP leader claimed, “Eknath Shinde’s state government is confused as its agriculture minister went to Delhi to meet Goel on the issue, but Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted “something different”.
‘Complete policy inertia in the state government’
Sule, a Lok Sabha member from Baramati, said, “This shows that there is a lack of coordination. There is complete policy inertia in the state government.” When asked if she was talking about policy inertia in the government when Ajit Pawar is also involved, who is considered a good administrator, Sule said that one person’s There is a huge difference in working and the policy inertia of the entire government.
imposed 40 percent duty on exports
Amid indications of rising prices in view of the upcoming festive season, the central government on August 19 imposed a 40 per cent duty on onion exports to increase domestic availability. The export duty was imposed by the Finance Ministry through a notification and will remain in force till December 31. This is the first time that export duty has been imposed on onions. Meanwhile, farmers have claimed that this step of the government will lead to an abundance of onions in the domestic market, which will cause prices to fall and farmers will suffer huge losses.
Auction closed due to low prices
Onion auction started in some APMCs of Nashik on Thursday but it was closed after some time due to low prices. Onion auction was closed since Monday. Meanwhile, around 500 farmers blocked the Mumbai-Agra highway in protest against the imposition of 40 per cent export duty on onions. The auction began in the morning at the country’s largest wholesale onion market Lasalgaon as well as at APMCs in Pimpalgaon and Chandwad, but was stopped after some time due to low prices, officials said.
NCCF fixes onion price at Rs 2,410 per quintal
He told that Nafed and NCCF, the apex organization of the Union Ministry of Agriculture, had fixed the price of onion at Rs 2,410 per quintal. He told that the onion auction was stopped today due to farmers not getting this much amount and due to lower prices. Officials said that the farmers stopped the auction because no official of Nafed or National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited was present on the spot.
“At Lasalgaon, around 300 vehicles loaded with onions arrived for auction in the morning, with the minimum price per quintal being Rs 600 while the maximum price was Rs 2,500 and the average price was Rs 2,251,” said an official. The price in Chandwad was Rs 1700-1800 per quintal. The official said that the auction started at 8:30 am, but lasted only for 15-20 minutes as the farmers were unhappy. The auction did not resume till noon and the officials expected the auction to be held later in the afternoon.