Nashik: Centre on Saturday increased the onion procurement rate by Rs 2.50 per kg, from Rs 18.75 to Rs 21.25 per kg, marking the seventh hike in the last 50 days. The revised rate took immediate effect for procurement by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) and the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF).The Union ministry of consumer affairs issued a circular revising the procurement price to Rs 2,125 per quintal. However, farmers continue to sell their produce through agricultural produce market committees (APMCs), where prevailing market prices remain higher than the procurement rate.At the Lasalgaon APMC, the country’s largest wholesale onion market, the average onion price stood at around Rs 2,250 per quintal on Saturday. Prices ranged from Rs 800 to Rs 2,700 per quintal depending on the quality. Good-quality onions fetched at least Rs 2,000 per quintal.“As the APMC rates are higher than the prices offered by Nafed and NCCF, farmers are preferring open market sales at the APMCs,” an APMC official said.The Centre launched its summer onion procurement drive on May 15 with a procurement rate of Rs 1,235 per quintal and a target of procuring 2 lakh tonnes for buffer stock creation. Since then, the rate has been revised seven times in response to rising market prices.Despite the successive revisions, procurement has remained sluggish. Nafed and NCCF have together procured only around 6,000 tonnes of onions so far, achieving barely 3% of the targeted quantity.Jaideep Bhadane, Nashik district president of the Maharashtra Onion Growers’ Association, said farmers were still dissatisfied with the procurement rate. “The current rate does not adequately reflect production costs and prevailing market conditions. We have also demanded that the procurement target be increased from 2 lakh tonnes to 10 lakh tonnes,” he said.Farmer Nivrutti Nyaharkar said the procurement price had reached production-cost levels only after repeated revisions. “The response remained poor because farmers were getting better prices in the market. Centre should procure onions directly from farmers through auctions and offer Rs 3,000 per quintal,” he said.Last year, Centre had procured 3 lakh tonnes of summer onions. This year’s target of 2 lakh tonnes is about 33% lower.
