Farmers won't sell onions at Rs 5/Kg
With the wholesale onion price ruling firm at Rs 5 a kg for a month now, growers have preferred to store them in the hope of getting better returns.
By Jayashree Bhosale, ET Bureau |
PUNE: With the wholesale onion price ruling firm at Rs 5 a kg for a month now, growers have preferred to store them in the hope of getting better returns.
Supplies to Lasalgaon and Pimpalgaon APMCs in Nashik district, two of Asia's biggest mandies for onion trade, have dropped by 50% during the period.
During last December and this January, retail onion prices rose above Rs 70 a kg and farmers purchased expensive seeds during the rabi sowing season in the hope of better returns.
With an increase in acreage and productivity, rabi production seems to have gone up by 15% to 20% over the past year and prices have cooled.
"The production has increased due to two factors. There is about 5% to 10% increase in area due to very good onion prices in the sowing season.
The crop quality and productivity is good as the winter season extended," said RP Gupta, director of Nashik-based National Horticulture Research and Development Centre. He added, "The average price of Rs 5 a kg is good because the production cost for the farmer is about Rs 3 a kg."
Exports are also not encouraging. When prices had skyrocketed, the government had increased the minimum export price to $650 a tonne.
But farmers and traders could not benefit from the policy shift. Acoording to Nafed data, as against 1.73 lakh tonne onions exported in April 2010, the country exported 1.51 lakh tonne in April 2011.
Supplies to Lasalgaon and Pimpalgaon APMCs in Nashik district, two of Asia's biggest mandies for onion trade, have dropped by 50% during the period.
During last December and this January, retail onion prices rose above Rs 70 a kg and farmers purchased expensive seeds during the rabi sowing season in the hope of better returns.
With an increase in acreage and productivity, rabi production seems to have gone up by 15% to 20% over the past year and prices have cooled.
"The production has increased due to two factors. There is about 5% to 10% increase in area due to very good onion prices in the sowing season.
The crop quality and productivity is good as the winter season extended," said RP Gupta, director of Nashik-based National Horticulture Research and Development Centre. He added, "The average price of Rs 5 a kg is good because the production cost for the farmer is about Rs 3 a kg."
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Exports are also not encouraging. When prices had skyrocketed, the government had increased the minimum export price to $650 a tonne.
But farmers and traders could not benefit from the policy shift. Acoording to Nafed data, as against 1.73 lakh tonne onions exported in April 2010, the country exported 1.51 lakh tonne in April 2011.
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