Tags:
Journalism of Courage
NASHIK, March 5: The Central Government has lifted the two-month old ban on onion exports yesterday, just in time to prevent a glut of onions following fresh arrivals of the late kharif crop.
According to NAFED Branch Manager S M Pillai, the ban was revoked yesterday and it even bought 25 tonnes of export quality onions at the Lasalgaon market. He said that NAFED had also started issuing permits (NOCs) to exporters.
The ban was imposed on January 12 following scarcity of onions owing to the failure of the kharif crop. The scarcity had led to skyrocketing of prices to an unprecedented high of Rs 1,751 per quintal on December 30, 1997 and Rs 1,851 on February 3, 1998. As a result, retail prices of onions had scaled to Rs 25-30 per kilo in cities.
With the arrival of the late kharif crop in mid-February, farmers had demanded that the export ban be revoked. The prices started falling over the last fortnight to an average of Rs 551 per quintal on March 2. However, the nemesis does not seem to be over as yet.The unseasonal rains have damaged the new onion crop.
