Senior Maharashtra ministers, including Deputy Chief Ministers Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis, are expected to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday to discuss a possible way out of the total ban on onion exports. Minister of Food and Civil Supplies Chhagan Bhujbal told The Indian Express he could also join the delegation to meet Shah in Delhi. Onion prices have plummeted in wholesale markets in Maharashtra since the central government banned exports on December 8. Currently, the kitchen staple is trading at Rs 2,100-2,000/quintal at various wholesale markets as against Rs 3,500-3,300/quintal it was trading at before the ban. The fate of over 400 containers (each container containing 22 tonnes of onion) slated to be shipped out was also uncertain post the ban. Farmers have since reacted sharply to the ban and the subsequent price fall. Bhujbal, representing the Yeola assembly constituency in Nashik district, said they would try to find a solution. “We will try to work out a solution which will help stabilise the price both for farmers as well as consumers,” he said. However, some other senior ministers are not optimistic about any solutions. “The Centre had earlier justified the ban by citing the consumers. In this regard, we do not hope the ban will be lifted before March 31, 2024. With Loksabha elections round the corner, the Centre would not want to face the electorate with high onion prices,” said a minister. Nashik, Ahmednagar, Pune, and parts of Marathawada are major onion-growing zones in the state, and this decision to ban exports can have political backlash. The ban comes even as the late kharif crop is being harvested and the rabi crop is being planted. The summer crop rabi is expected to be lower than normal, given the moisture stress in the state. Also, farmers have reported crop loss due to unseasonal rains during harvest time. Earlier in the year, Ajit Pawar’s cavalcade faced protests from farmers who threw onions and tomatoes while he was travelling in Nashik.
