The government Thursday lifted its ban on the export of Krishnapuram (KP) onions, a variety grown exclusively for the international market, allowing shipments of up to 10,000 metric tonne subject to certain conditions. The export shipment shall be allowed “only” through the Chennai port and would have to be completed by March 31, 2020, stated a notification by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). Exporters of KP onions would have to get a certificate from the Assistant Director, Horticulture Kadapa, Government of Andhra Pradesh, certifying the quantity for export purpose. This certificate shall be registered by the exporter at the office of the Zonal Additional DGFT in Chennai. The total quantity being allowed for exports shall be monitored and the Chennai port customs authorities will allow export on the basis of the certificate from the Andhra Pradesh government and the registration certificate from the DGFT zonal office. The move, which comes around three months after the export ban on a similar variety of onions (Bangalore Rose), follows a request by YSRCP MP V Vijayasai Reddy earlier this week at the Rajya Sabha. The government had banned exports of onions in September 2019 to increase domestic availability and contain rising prices of the commodity. The move had adversely impacted “thousands” of farmers growing the KP variety of onions, “as they could not even sell it in the domestic market,” said Reddy in Parliament on February 4. This variety is exclusively grown for export purposes to countries like Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, and are not used in India due their small size and pungency, according to him. “Because of the unprecedented rise in the prices of onions, the Government of India may be justified in its decision to ban all exports of onion, but the ban to export onion in respect of KP onion is not justified,” he said. The MP noted that, while Bangalore Rose onions had been allowed to be exported, “inactivity” had prevailed on the issue of allowing KP onions to be exported. “In view of the above, I request the commerce minister Piyush Goyal ji to take stock of the situation and immediately lift the ban on export of KP onions as shelf life of the variety is fast running out,” said Reddy, adding that if the ban was not lifted “immediately”, farmers growing the variety would be incurring “huge losses.”
