Pune: The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) has set a deadline for the two central agencies to complete the procurement of two lakh metric tonnes of onions from farmers in Nashik by July 31.
Event Context
The two agencies, National Cooperative Federation of India Ltd (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed), have so far purchased 70,000 metric tonnes of onions from Nashik farmers ever since they started the exercise from May 15.
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Confirming the development, the Nashik NCCF branch manager, Harsha Kamini, said, “All efforts are being made to complete the procurement of two lakh metric tonnes by July 31.”
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However, the founder president of the Maharashtra State Onion Producers Association, Bharat Dighole, claimed that the two central agencies would not be able to meet the deadline.
“A large section of onion growers are still reluctant to sell their produce to the two agencies since they are getting higher prices at the mandis. The wholesale price of the good quality onions at the mandis is over ₹2,500 per quintal; the two agencies are offering ₹2,125 per quintal,” claimed Dighole.
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Sources in the central agencies said that the procurement centres in rural Nashik have been increased from 25 to 50 to enable the local farmers to sell their produce without any hassle. An increasing number of Nashik onion growers are coming forward to sell their produce,” added officials of the central agencies.
Every year, the government buys onions from Nashik farmers to create a buffer stock to deal with a potential shortage of the produce in the country after August and also to stabilise the wholesale price of the produce.
Sources in the central agencies said that the initial response from farmers when the procurement process started was sluggish, as wholesale prices at the mandis exceeded the procurement price offered by the two agencies.
“But since the government has increased the procurement price thrice in the past, the farmers are forthcoming to sell their produce,” added sources.
