Onion procurement for buffer stock is much less than target due to low prices

Mumbai: Due to the Lok Sabha elections and the low prices offered, the purchase of onions by the Central Government for buffer stock is said to be much less than the target for the current financial year. Government sources said that for the financial year 2024-25, the government has set a target of purchasing five lakh tonnes of onions, but not even ten percent of the target could be purchased.

In the last financial year, government agencies had purchased 6.40 lakh tonnes of onion, out of which one lakh tonnes was claimed to be still in stock.

In the current year, the buffer stock target in June has not been met as expected due to the two-month-long Lok Sabha elections as well as low prices offered to farmers. Due to low prices, farmers are not enthusiastic about selling the produce to government agencies.

To keep onion prices stable, the government has been creating buffer stock since 2016-17. Earlier, the government used to buy onions only to support farmers in case of price fall.

The government buys onions through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) and the National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF). Due to low income and increased demand, onion prices have increased by 35 to 40 percent since the beginning of the current month.

A local trader said that prices have risen due to the imbalance between demand and supply. Currently, the supply in the market is coming from the stocks held by farmers and traders.

Market sources said that onion supply has been affected due to heat and unseasonal rains.