There may be a huge jump in onion prices. Over 500 traders purchasing onions from all 15 APMCs in Maharashtra’s Nashik district have announced an indefinite strike from Wednesday. They will not participate in onion auctions in the mandis and this is likely to impact the onion supply in various parts of the country. According to onion traders, two central government agencies—National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India Limited (NCCF)—are purchasing onions from farmers in Nashik and selling them through APMCs in different parts of the country. Some traders said the price difference was between Rs 500-700 per quintal.
Both the central agencies are selling the produce in other wholesale markets at an average price of around Rs 1,500 per quintal. Meanwhile, the average wholesale price of onion at Lasalgaon APMC, the country’s largest onion wholesale market, is around Rs 2,000 per quintal. Onion trader Kshitij Jain said that considering the transportation cost of Rs 300 per quintal and labor charges of Rs 150 per quintal, the price of onion is around Rs 2,500 per quintal. Then how can we sell the produce to other states when both the central agencies are selling onions to us at lower rates?
Both NAFED and NCCF had purchased 3 lakh quintals of onion in the first phase and are currently engaged in purchasing additional 2 lakh quintals of onion in Nashik. Nashik District Onion Traders Association President Khandu Devre said that they have announced an indefinite ban on onion auction in 15 Nashik APMCs from Wednesday.
Devre said, ‘We want NAFED and NCCF to sell the buffer stock in retail markets instead of APMC. He said, ‘Besides, we also want the Center to withdraw the 40% export duty imposed on onions last month. We also want to reduce the market fee from Re 1 per quintal to 50 paise.’
