Even as onion prices keep spiralling across the country, it has now come to light that the situation could have been averted had the bulb got imported, as was planned by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), in August. However, the plan could not be pursued due to some technical problem.
According to senior government officials, state-controlled NAFED had mulled floating tender for importing 20 lakh tonne onion in August. “But NAFED could not pursue the tender and import the onion due to some technical problems. We thought that the price will come down shortly but it didn’t. So, we have finally decided to import onion from Pakistan, Iran, China and Egypt. We have not yet decided the quantum of onion to import,” Changdeo Holkar, director of NAFED told dna on Thursday.
He said it will take almost a month to bring the onion physically from these countries.
Commodity experts believe that if the NAFED had imported the onion in August then “we would not have had shortage”. They said that the state government is “responsible for this mess”.
“Onion price is pinching the buyers. There is no sign that it will come down anytime soon. The central and state governments should decide policies well in advance, before the situation goes out of control. It shows that there is lack of planning...,” an expert said.
Ashok Walunje, director at Agriculture Product Market Committee and an onion trader, said, the government imports 10,000-20,000 tonne onion against the demand of one lakh tonne. “It will take more than a month for the onion to reach India. There is an ongoing strike at the JNPT where the vessels come in. This situation will prevail only for two-three weeks. By that time the onion comes from foreign countries, the prices will come down. There is no point importing it at the moment,” he added.
Nansaheb Patil, chairman of Lasalgaon Onion Market, said that for the first time farmers are getting good rates for the onion. “How much onion a family eats in a day? The cost, which a family has to bear per day, is nothing compared to the other expenses. People are happy to pay Rs25 for one litre of water bottle in malls and multiplexes and Rs500 on a movie ticket. But when it comes to paying a little higher to farmers, they always object,” Patil said.
According to senior government officials, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) had mulled floating tender for importing 20 lakh tonne onion in August .
However, it could not pursue the tender and import the onion due to some technical problems.
Commodity experts believe that if the NAFED had imported the onion in August then there would not have been had shortage. They said that the state is responsible for this mess.
Source:- dnaindia.com
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