States fear shortfall, begin hoarding onions

LASALGAON NASHIK, MAY 20: With the arrival of the Rabi summer onion crop, which can be stored upto six months, several state governme...

LASALGAON NASHIK, MAY 20: With the arrival of the Rabi summer onion crop, which can be stored upto six months, several state governments as well as the Centre are entering the market to buy the commodity, in apprehension of a shortfall during the forthcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. Farmers, on their part, have joined traders in hoarding the crop for better prices.

The Andhra Pradesh Government has placed orders for 10,000 tonnes of onions and has already bought 1,300 tonnes over the last 10 days. Everyday, about 15 truckloads of the commodity leave Lasalgaon for Hyderabad.

The Central Government, too, has asked NAFED to buy and store one lakh tonnes of onions, according to NAFED director Changdevrao Holkar. He said the Government apprehends a shortage of the commodity at the time of the Lok Sabha elections.

NAFED, he said, did not have adequate storage space in and around Lasalgaon, as its godowns in Nashik district can store only upto 5,000 tonnes. He added labour was in short supply, andpre-storage treatment and grading/sorting of 50 tonnes of the crop required 15 days.

The one lakh tonne-target was 8220;impractical and unnecessary8221;, he said, as the harvest was 8220;normal8221;, adding that as against 2.5 lakh tonnes harvested last year, the harvest this year was over four lakh tonnes in Nashik district.

Holkar also said there were queries from other states that not self-sufficient in onion production. He said farmers had started hoarding the crop, expecting a better price after some months.

Onion exporter Ashok Shah said after wholesale prices touched an all-time high of Rs 4,000 per quintal last year, onion-growers as well as rich farmers had started hoarding, expecting better returns. Furthermore, farmers had started hoarding the crop as it could be stored up to six months; thus, very little of the crop entering the market was of export quality.

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The Maharashtra Government is also planning to buy onions. According to Lasalgaon Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee APMC chairmanKalyanrao Patil, the State Government had planned to reserve one lakh tonnes of onions, but is yet to pursue the matter. Meanwhile, the State Agriculture Marketing Federation is looking for storage space in Nashik district for storing onions.

Government agencies have announced loan schemes for building storage godowns but the schemes are yet to reach the beneficiaries as several agencies like National Horticulture Board, NABARD and district cooperative banks have not streamlined the process.

Traders are hesitant to buy onions in large quantities because the State8217;s export quota would expire by June 15 and if the exports are stopped after that, prices would start dropping.

Meanwhile, according to an estimate 2,000 new onion chawls8217; godowns have sprung up all over the district build by farmers and trade.

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A farmer from Satargaon, Shankar Makhare, has grown about one tonne of onions this season on three acres of land, but wants to sell only 30 quintals at the marketyard,storing the remaining 70quintals in newly built chawl. He has invested Rs. 50,000 in constructing the chawl and intends towait for better prices for his onions. Several other farmers at the marketyard endorse Shankar8217;s strategy and hope that they would get at least Rs. 3000 per quintal if they store the crop.

The onion prices, meanwhile are in the range of Rs. 500 per quintal and the arrivals have established at around 15,000 quintals per day. An artificial scarcity of the commodity cannot be ruled out in the coming months.