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HomePosts Tagged "onion procurement"
AgroPolicy, Horticulture, India, Supply Chain, Vegetables

For the procurement, NAFED and NCCF are to pre-register the onion farmers to ensure that payments to the farmers are transferred to their bank accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer.

In the current year, the Government has directed NCCF and NAFED to initiate procurement of 5 lakh tonnes of onion for the buffer requirement directly from the farmers as Rabi-2024 harvest started arriving in the market. For the procurement, NAFED and NCCF are to pre-register the onion farmers to ensure that payments to the farmers are transferred to their bank accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer.

Rabi onion is critical for country’s onion availability as it contributes 72 -75 per cent of annual production in the country. The Rabi onion is also crucial for ensuring year-round availability of onion as it has better shelf life compared to Kharif onion and can be stored for supplies till November- December.

It may be recalled that the Department of Consumer Affairs had, through NAFED and NCCF, purchased about 6.4 LMT of Onion during 2023-24 for the buffer stocking as well as intervention by way of simultaneous procurement and disposal. The continuous procurements by the NAFED and NCCF have guaranteed remunerative prices for onion farmers all through the year in 2023. Subsequently, the Department of Consumer Affairs adopted retail sale intervention for disposal of onion through retail outlets and mobile vans operated by NCCF, NAFED, Kendriya Bhandar and other State controlled cooperatives at subsidized price of Rs.25 per kg during last year. The timely intervention and calibrated release ensured stabilization of retail prices effectively without impacting farmer realization.

Global supply scenario and dry spell induced by El Niño had necessitated the Government to take up policy measures to regulate onion exports during FY 2023-24. These measures included 40 per cent duty on onion exports imposed on 19th August 2023, imposition of Minimum Export Price (MEP) of USD 800 per MT with effect from 29th October, 2023 and export prohibition w.e.f. 8th December, 2023 to ensure availability of onion to the domestic consumers at affordable prices.

The recent decision to extend onion export prohibition has been necessitated by the overall domestic availability against the prevailing international prices and global availability concerns.  The Government, meanwhile, has allowed exports to neighboring countries that rely on India for their domestic consumption requirements.  The Government has allowed the export of Onion to Bhutan (550 MT), Bahrain (3,000 MT), Mauritius (1,200 MT), Bangladesh (50,000 MT) and UAE (14,400 MT i.e. 3,600 MT/ quarter).

For the procurement, NAFED and NCCF are

AgroPolicy, India, Supply Chain, Vegetables

Department of Consumer Affairs procures 5.06 LMT onion for disposal through e-sales, e-Nam auction and bulk sale.

The Government has initiated aggressive retail sale of onion from the buffer at subsidised price of Rs 25 per kg to protect the consumers from recent increase in onion prices due to delay in the arrival of kharif crop. This comes as another measure in addition to the slew of measures put in place to ensure availability and affordability of onion to domestic consumers such as, imposition of Minimum Export Price (MEP) of USD 800 per MT with effect from 29th October, 2023, enhancement of buffer procurement by 2 lakh tons, over above 5.06 lakh tons already procured, and the continuous disposal of onion through retail sales, e-Nam auction and bulk sales in wholesale markets from second week of August.

The Department of Consumer Affairs has started aggressive disposal of onion through retail outlets and mobile vans operated by NCCF, NAFED, Kendriya Bhandar and other State controlled cooperatives at subsidised price of Rs 25 per kg. Till 2nd November, NAFED has set up 329 retail points, consisting of stationary outlets and mobile vans, in 55 cities across 21 states. Similarly, NCCF has set up 457 retail points in 54 cities across 20 states. Kendriya Bhandar too, has started retail supply of onion through its retail outlets across Delhi-NCR from 3rd November, 2023 and Safal Mother Dairy will start from this weekend. The retail sale of onion to consumers in Telangana and other southern states are being taken up by Hyderabad Agricultural Cooperatives Association (HACA).

In order to control the seasonal price volatility between rabi and kharif crops the Government maintains onion buffer by procuring rabi onion for subsequent calibrated and targeted release. This year, the buffer size has been raised to 7 LMT from 2.5 LMT in 2022-23. Till date 5.06 LMT of onion has been procured and the procurement of balance 2 LMT is in progress.

The proactive measures taken by the Government has started showing result as onion prices in benchmark Lasalgaon market declined from Rs.4,800/qtl on 28.102023 to Rs.3,650/qtl on 03.11.2023, a decline of 24 per cent. Retail prices are expected to show similar decline from the coming week.

Department of Consumer Affairs procures 5.06 LMT

AgroPolicy, India, Supply Chain, Trade, Vegetables

As per directives from Department of Consumer Affairs, NCCF will sell onions at retail price of Rs 25 per kg.

In an unprecedented move the Government raised the quantum of onion buffer to 5.00 lakh metric tonnes this year, after achieving the initial procurement target of 3.00 lakh metric tonnes. In this regard, the Department of Consumer Affairs has directed NCCF and NAFED to procure 1.00 lakh tonnes each to achieve the additional procurement target alongside calibrated disposal of the procured stocks in major consumption centres.

Disposal of onions from the buffer has commenced, targeting major markets in States and UTs where retail prices are above the all-India average and/or are significantly higher than the previous month. As on date, about 1,400 MT of onions from the buffer has been dispatched to the targeted markets and are being continuously released to augment the availability.

Apart from releasing in major markets, onions from the buffer are also being made available to retail consumers at a subsidized rate of Rs.25/- per kg through retail outlets and mobile vans of NCCF from tomorrow i.e., Monday 21st August 2023. Retail sale of onion will be suitably enhanced in coming days by involving other agencies and e-commerce platforms.

The multipronged measures taken by the Government onion like procurement for the buffer, targeted release of stocks and imposition of export duty will benefit the farmers and consumers by assuring remunerative prices to the onion farmers while ensuring continuous availability to the consumers at affordable prices.

As per directives from Department of Consumer

AgroPolicy, Cold Storage, Supply Chain

The onion buffer size in current year is 0.50 lakh tons higher than the 2.0 lakh tons created during 2021-22.

Beating past records, the Centre has procured 2.50 lakh tons of onion for the buffer in 2022-23. The onion buffer size in current year is 0.50 lakh tons higher than the 2.0 lakh tons created during 2021-22. The onions were procured from current rabi harvest for the price stabilisation buffer. The stocks have been procured by National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) from farmers through the Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) in rabi onion growing states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

The stocks will be released through targeted open market sales and also offered to states/UTs and government agencies for supplies through retail outlets during the lean months (Aug – Dec) to moderate price rise. Open market releases will be targeted towards states/cities where prices are increasing over the previous month and also in key mandis to augment the overall availability.

The price stabilisation buffer serves the twin objectives of providing remunerative prices to onion farmers and augmenting the availability of onions at affordable prices to the consumers. Onion is a semi perishable vegetable and post-harvest losses due to physiological weight loss, rotting, sprouting etc. are estimated to be substantial. Rabi onion harvested during April – June accounts for 65 per cent of India’s onion production and meets the consumer’s demand till kharif crop is harvested from October-November. It is therefore vital to successfully store onion in order ensure the regular supply.

The onion buffer size in current year