Maharashtra government on Monday announced that it will take ruthless action against those involved in hoarding of onion and speculative tactics. At the same time, the state government also opposed any move to curb or ban onion in the wake of surge in its prices.
State agriculture minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil told Business Standard, "The government will act tough against hoarders and speculators. We are constantly monitoring the situation. However, the state government is against any move to curb or ban onion exports as the Centre should not indulge into switch and on switch off policy in this regard." The minister said farmers are getting better onion prices but attempts by traders to resort to hoarding and speculation would be dealt with firmly.
NCP MP Samir Bhujbal from onion rich Nashik district shared Vikhe-Patil's views and said let the farmers benefit from the prevailing price of Rs 1,500 per quintal. "Let the government takes action against hoarders and speculators but there should not be any attempt to put any restrictions on onion exports," he noted.
According to the official from the state agriculture department, the onion production is expected to be 2.95 million during 2012-13 from 5.82 million in 2011-12. This was largely due to the prevailing drought conditions in large parts of Maharashtra. Besides, the area under onion cultivation has also fallen to .18 million hectare in 2012-13 against .38 million hectare in 2011-13.
A recent study by the Small Farmers' Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC) supported by the Union Ministry of Agriculture forecasts, onion crop in India’s two leading producers - Maharashtra and Karnataka – could decline by 35% and 25% respectively compared to the previous year due to water shortage and delay in the monsoon rainfalls early 2012.
The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCEAR) has estimated a 20% drop in onion output for 2012-13 from the level of 16.34 million tonnes reported in the previous year. NCEAR estimated demand for Indian onions to remain strong.
According to R P Gupta, Director, National Horticulture Research & Development Foundation (NHRDF), onion exports have declined in December by 40-50% due to higher quote from Indian traders.
