Govt likely to offload about 50,000 tonnes of onions to stabilise prices

08 Sep 2022 Evaluate

With an aim to stabilise onion prices, the government is likely to offload about 50,000 tonnes of onions from its buffer stocks to a few cities like Delhi and Guwahati, where retail prices are a little higher than the all-India average rates. The Centre is maintaining a buffer stock of 2.5 lakh tonnes of onion. The all-India average prices of onions stood at Rs 26 per kg on September 06, 2022.

The department of consumer affairs may sell 50,000 tonnes of onions to cities like Delhi and Guwahati from its buffer stocks. As the shelf life of onions is less, the department has written to all states to place orders if they need onions. The Centre is offering onions at around Rs 18 per kg. The department is also exploring how to improve the shelf life of onions through the radiation process.

Onion production in 2020-21 was 266.41 lakh tonnes and consumption was 160.50 lakh tonnes. Due to its perishable nature and the gap between the rabi and kharif crops, the prices of onions tend to increase during the lean months of September to December. The overall post-harvest losses of onion occur due to several factors like loss of moisture content, fungal infection, decay loss, sprouting loss etc. which may be reduced through improved storage facilities.

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