Government directs NCCF, NAFED to commence procurement of 5 lakh tonnes of rabi onion

27 Mar 2024 Evaluate

The government has directed National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) to commence procurement of 5 lakh tonnes of rabi onion directly from the farmers to maintain a buffer stock. 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. 

Last week, the commerce ministry extended the ban on onion export till further orders. The ban on onion shipment was valid till March 31. Rabi onion is critical for country’s onion availability as it contributes 72 -75% 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. 

The Department of Consumer Affairs had, through NAFED and NCCF, purchased about 6.4 lakh tonnes 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.

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).


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