Nafed to begin onion procurement from 3 mandis in Gujarat from Thursday

Cooperative Nafed will start procurement of kharif onion in Gujarat from Thursday from three mandis to provide relief to farmers, as prices have crashed in the wholesale markets, according to the Food and Consumer Affairs Ministry. Nafed will begin onion procurement from Bhavnagar, Gondal and Porbandar mandis in Gujarat from March 9.

More centres will be opened from time to time as required, it said.

“Farmers are requested to bring their good quality and dried stock to the procurement centres to avail better rates at these centres,” the ministry said.

Payments to the farmers will be done online, it added.

The ministry said the central government has planned this market intervention in order to give immediate relief to the farmers from crashing prices of onions in the state.

Nafed will procure kharif onion to address the issue of falling prices of onion in Gujarat and this move will provide stability to the onion market in the state, it added.

Onion is grown in all the states, however, Maharashtra is the leading producer with a share of around 43 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 16 per cent, Karnataka and Gujarat contributing around 9 per cent of national production.

The crop is harvested thrice a year during Kharif, Late Kharif and Rabi seasons.