Government cuts onion export price by $20 to $235

The government has cut the minimum export price (MEP) of onion by $20 to $235 a tonne with effect from October 1 to boost export and check the falling domestic prices.

“Ample stocks in cold storage and heavy arrivals have pulled down onion price in Nasik from Rs 750 a quintal in early September to Rs 600 now. Therefore, export needs to be stepped up,” said an official with the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed), the agency that revises MEP on a monthly basis.

“Rates have come down in wholesale markets of Nasik, Lasalgaon and Pimpalgaon. There is a stock of about one million tonne against the monthly offtake of 450,000 tonnes. Moreover, kharif crop would start arriving from Rajasthan in October and late kharif crop from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka would be harvested from January onwards. Therefore, availability is not an issue,” said R P Gupta, director, National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF).

The country exported 699,968 tonnes of onion valued at Rs 585 crore during the April-August period of the current year, up over 82 per cent from 382,852 tonnes (valued at Rs 462 crore) exported in the corresponding period last year.