Rajasthan inks pact with NAFED and NCCF for onion procurement

08 Jun 2011 Evaluate

The Rajasthan State Food & Supply Corporation has inked pacts with National Co-operative Consumers Federation of India (NCCF) and National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) for the procurement of onions.  As per the agreement, NAFED will buy 1,000 tonnes of onions per day while NCCF will collect 600 tonnes per day.

The step was taken by the corporation when onion growers have been agitating for over a week after the onion prices fell drastically from Rs 500 a quintal to Rs 300 a quintal. They demanded for government's intervention and giving in to demands of distressed onion farmers in Rajasthan, the state government decided to procure the produce to help the farmers get better prices.

Rajasthan Food & Supply Corporation stated that the state government will release Rs 50 lakh to NAFED and Rs 30 lakh to NCCF for the procurement as it is determined to bail out distressed onion growers. The amount will be released as the first installment of the revolving fund and the state government will release more funds as and when needed.

On the basis of bids the government would buy the onion crop from farmers through these agencies and then distribute them through the Public Distribution System (PDS) outlets and milk booths.  Apart from that, NAFED and NCCF will sell the onions in non-onion producing areas across the country.

The output of onion this year is likely to be around 7.5 lakh tones which is over 2.5 lakh tones more than the average production as per the state directorate of agriculture. After Maharashtra, Rajasthan is a major producer of onion with the districts of Sikar, Nagaur, Jhunjhunu, Bhilwara and Jaipur accounting for most of the production. The farmers in Rajasthan had increased the acreage by over 25% buoyed by the last year’s rally of onion prices but with falling prices, it's unlikely that they will be able to recover even the input cost.

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