Farmers protest after government curbs soften onion wholesale prices

Mumbai

Farmers in India’s main onion markets of Lasalgaon and Pimpalgaon on Saturday held protests after wholesale prices of the bulb softened following the imposition of the Minimum Export Price on Friday.

According to sources at Lasalgaon, wholesale prices of good-quality onion which touched Rs 2,900 per quintal on Friday fell to Rs 2,670 per quintal on Saturday. “Farmers held protests and shouted slogans against the government for bringing down the onion prices,” a police official from Lasalgaon said. However, the farmers were dispersed without incident.

Onion prices which fell to less than one rupee a kilogram earlier this year have continued to surge after a large number of farmers quit cultivation of the bulb. Severe rains across Maharashtra have also damaged the onion crop, according to traders here.
To keep onion prices in check, the Centre on Friday imposed a Minimum Export Price of US $850 per tonne. The MEP had been removed after a surplus onion crop caused prices to crash. The government had even introduced an export subsidy following the surge in supply of onion.

The government has also floated tenders to import onion from foreign countries other than Pakistan. Egypt, China and Afghanistan have been identified as potential suppliers of onion to Indian markets and the imported bulb is expected to touch Indian shores by the end of November, according to the tender floated by the state-owned MMTC.

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