Bhopal: To date over 74 lakh quintals onion have been procured by State Marketing Federation (MARKFED) at MSP. The stocks are to be forwarded to State Civil Supplies Corporation, which has been mandated with the responsibility of selling them. But over 29 lakh quintals of procured onions are yet to be delivered to the corporation by MARKFED.
MD of MARKFED Dhyaneshwar Patil said the corporation had procured over 74 lakh quintal onions from 1.33 lakh farmers and it had to pay Rs 592.64 crore to the sellers.
Sources said as per the estimates of National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF), the cost of production of onions was around Rs 827 per quintal while the current market price was Rs 525 per quintal.
In the current year, around 32 lakh MT onion was produced in the state while last year the production was 30 lakh MT. The state government had procured one lakh MT last year and it was claimed that 70 per cent of it was rotten.
Farmers without tractor-trolleys in trouble
The state’s marginal farmers are suffering as the mandis are procuring onions brought on only tractor-trolleys as their weighing-bridges cannot handle other vehicles. The farmers who do not own tractor trolleys are being forced to hire them for Rs 1,000-1,500 per day. If they have to wait for a day or two and in some cases for up to four days for their turn at the procurement centres, they have to shell out a hefty amount to the tractor-trolley owners.
Poor storage
The onions dumped at the mandis are getting soaked in rains, leading to sprouting. Tons of onions are dumped at Karond Mandi of Bhopal and huge stocks have sprouted. If this is the situation in the capital, that at other places can only be imagined.
