Hyderabad: Aiming to increase availability and curbing prices of the commodity in the domestic market, the Centre had on Monday banned the export of onions.
However, the farmers, who were expecting good money throughout the year, are frustrated with this decision of banning exports. As soon as the Centre announced the ban, farmers strongly reacted to it. They demanded that the decision be reversed, and also urged the Centre to pay a minimum basic price for onions.
Due to unseasonal rains in some parts of Maharashtra including Nashik, onion crops were severely damaged. In the past four months due to the lockdown, onion prices in Nashik, the country's leading onion producer, were between Rs 500 and Rs 700 per quintal. Farmers are now left with only 25 to 30 per cent of their onions due to heavy rains.
However, now the situation has changed and onion growers are beginning to reap the harvest. Onion prices have been rising steadily for the past eight days. Onions were sold at an average price of Rs 3,500 to Rs 4,000 per quintal in all the market committees in Nashik on Monday.
However, after the export ban, the price of onion fell to Rs 1,000. The farmers took a stand that they would not sell without getting a minimum price of Rs 3,000 per quintal.
Why did the Centre take this decision?
Due to heavy rains in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, onion cultivation has been delayed and red onion will arrive in September later this year. Therefore, the government has decided to ban exports, keeping in view the prices of surplus onions. However, this decision has made a big difference this year. If onion prices went up, exports would be controlled by raising export duties. Exports however, have been completely banned, which comes as a big blow to the farmers.
Read: Onion farmers in Nashik face hardships during lockdown, request govt intervention
Maharashtra demands lifting of export ban
The Maharashtra government is unhappy with the decision taken by the central government on onion exports. State Agriculture Minister Dada Bhuse demanded immediate reversal of the central government's decision to ban onion exports. If the prices of any other commodity go up, there is no export ban, why is the case so with onions, he questioned. Similarly, NCP leader and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal accused the central government of obstructing farmers by banning exports.
Sharad Pawar meets Piyush Goyal
Earlier on Tuesday, NCP President Sharad Pawar met Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal regarding the ban on onion exports. In the current scenario, India is likely to be seen as an unreliable country in terms of exports in the international market. He pointed out to Piyush Goyal that Pakistan and other onion exporters were reaping the benefits of this situation. He also requested the Commerce Minister to reconsider the ban on onion exports considering all these factors.
Read: Karnataka farmers destroy onion crop ravaged by disease
India ranks second in exports, decision to affect foreign exchange reserves?
The worldwide production of onion is 93,226,400 tonne per year. India ranks second as it produces 19,415,425 tonnes of onions annually. Madhya Pradesh produces about 37,21,610 metric tonne while 30,76,190 metric tonnes of onion is grown in Karnataka. China is the world's largest onion producer with 23,907,509 tonne.
Onion exports from India are also on a large scale and according to data for 2019-20, 11,49,896.85 metric tonne of onions were exported. This added $324.20 crore to the country's economy. Onions are exported in large quantities to Bangladesh, Malaysia, UAE, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Therefore, the export ban will also affect the foreign exchange reserves. It is estimated that 50,000 quintals of onions are consumed daily in India.
Maharashtra leads production in India
In India, onions are grown in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Telangana. Maharashtra is one of the leading onion growing states in terms of area and production. The state accounts for 40 per cent of the country's total production.
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In Maharashtra, Nashik, Pune, Solapur, Jalgaon, Dhule, Ahmednagar and Satara are known as onion growing districts. Onion is also cultivated in some districts of Marathwada, Vidarbha and Konkan. Nashik district is famous not only in Maharashtra but all over India for onion cultivation. Out of the total production, 37 per cent of onion production in Maharashtra and 10 per cent production in India is done in Nashik district alone. In Maharashtra, onions are grown in the Kharif season from June to October, in rabi season from November to February and in the summer season from January to June.
Karnataka supplies 20 per cent of the nation's onion
Karnataka is also angry over the ban on onion exports. It accounts for 20 per cent of the total onion production in the country. India exports large quantities of onions to Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Arab countries. Therefore, the decision of the government has caused great loss to the onion growers here. The price at Dhawangiri was Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per quintal before the ban. However, deals stalled today after the export ban. Farmers said that despite a reduction of Rs 200 to Rs 300 per quintal in the price of onions there were no buyers.
Read: WATCH: What Agriculture Minister says about Farm Ordinances in LS
Right time to give MSP to onions
Farmer activist Vikas Sopanna opined that now is the right time to pay the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for onions. A centre should be started for buying onions at a minimum base price. However, he said that the present central government is against farmers.
Why do onions become expensive in December-January?
Though the price of onion in Madhya Pradesh is stable at present, in the next two to three months, they may once again surge. Onion prices skyrocket in December and January every year. An earlier ETV Bharat report revealed that big traders stockpile large quantities of onions during the rainy season, and a false illusion is spread that due to rains, onion crops have been spoiled. Based on this, the inflow of onion is reduced first, and then the game of surge pricing begins.
