Only 150 register in two days: Slow response to govt procurement of onions from farmers

ICPCL is a state-level consortium of 30 farmer producer organisations (FPOs) of Gujarat.

The government had announced on Wednesday that onion procurement centres will be opened in agricultural produce market committees (APMCs) in Mahuva in Bhavnagar district, Gondal in Rajkot and Porbandar in Porbandar from Monday. The government has decided to procure onions at a price benchmarked on the average of the modal price (the price at which the maximum crop on a given day is auctioned off in an APMC) and the highest price the preceding three days.

“We also visited Gondal APMC today and our price for the day was Rs172.66 per 20 kg. But no farmer turned up to sell his onion to us, apparently because their good quality crop was attracting higher bids in the auction being conducted by the APMC,” Sisodiya further said.

Tarun Pachani, secretary of Gondal APMC agreed. “Today, prices was in the range of Rs 66 to Rs 231 per 20 kg (100 kg make a quintal) and modal price was Rs151. As compared to Nafed’s price, good quality onion was fetching average around Rs200 in the open auction conducted by us. Therefore, no farmer sold their onion to Nafed today,” said Pachani.

Ghanshaym Patel, chairman of Mahuva APMC also said that prices have recovered. “At the end of February, the price was in the range of Rs 60 to Rs120 per 20 kg. But from March 1 onwards, they have been on the path to recovery and have remained in the range of Rs120 to Rs220,” said Patel, adding, “While the government’s decision to intervene in the market doesn’t seem to have any impact so far, down the line the government procurement will introduce a new element of competition which will push prices northwards.”

Sisodiya, however, said that Nafed can’t compromise on quality. “We have to adhere to FAQ norms as onions procured from Gujarat are meant to be transported all the way to Delhi and sold through auction there. We can’t afford to procure onions which don’t meet FAQ norms and whose quality can deteriorate in transit,” the ICPCL CEO said.

The Mahuva APMC chairman said that arrivals have remained steady. “Four days ago, our yard recorded arrivals of 2.4 lakh bags and traders are purchasing an average 70,000 bags daily.”

It is for the first time that the government has decided to procure late Kharif onions from the state. Late Kharif crop is transplanted in September-October and harvested in January-February. Nafed had procured Rabi onions (transplanted in December-January) and harvested in March-April) in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 also.

“We are hopeful of making some procurements on Saturday,” Sisodiya said, adding, “We have not been given any procurement target and therefore, we will be able to support the maximum number of farmers.”