Govt cuts onion MEP for May by $40/tn

The government has cut the minimum export price (MEP) of onion by $40 a tonne for May to an average of $155-$160, as prices have started to fall, following the arrival of fresh rabi crops.

“We have reduced the MEP by $40 for shipment in May,” a senior official with the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed) said. Asked about the reason behind the reduction in the MEP, he said, “Arrivals have picked up due to the harvesting of the rabi crops and prices too are coming down.”

The wholesale prices of onion in Lasalgaon, the country’s largest onion trading hub, has moderated to Rs 450 a quintal on April 30 from Rs 901 on March 2, providing some leeway for Nafed to cut the MEP.

Nafed is the nodal agency for onion export, which decides the MEP every month in consultation with 12 other agencies, taking into account domestic availability and prices.

India’s onion export is believed to have hit a record in the FY09 at about 1.67 million tonnes, up 50 per cent over the previous financial year.

“Onion exports are set to have breached 1.65 million tonnes in FY09, compared with 1.1 million tonnes in the previous financial year,” a senior official at Nafed had said earlier.