Onion buffer stock not even 10% of FY25 target

June marks the end of the peak arrival period for rabi season onions, after which they go into the storages of traders, stockists and farmers.

The officials cited earlier said the delay in procurement was on account of the general elections and the low purchase rates offered by the government which turned farmers away. In 2023-24, the central government had procured 6.4 lakh tonnes of onions in the rabi and the kharif season. “This year, there was a delay in starting procurement operations due to elections, which has adversely affected the government procurement,” said Yogesh Thorat, managing director, MahaFPC, a federation of farmer produce companies (FPOs) in Maharashtra. Since 2016-17, the Centre has been creating a strategic buffer stock for price stabilisation. Earlier, the government used to buy onions only to support farmers when prices would collapse. The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed) and the National Co-operative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF) have the responsibility of procuring onions for the central pool. Nafed has storage facilities for about 10,000 tonnes of onions, while NCCF has none. Both the agencies must procure onions either from farm gate or from the FPOs. Apart from delay in the commencement of procurement operation, another reason for farmers’ lukewarm response to government procurement is the difference in government’s price and the open market price.