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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Suspend onion imports for 10 days, NCCF tells government by Gargi Parsai

Suspend onion imports for 10 days, NCCF tells government by Gargi Parsai

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published Published on Jan 18, 2011   modified Modified on Jan 18, 2011
Even as the price of onions remained high in domestic retail markets, the National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India (NCCF) on Monday urged the government to suspend the import of the vegetable for 10 days, by when the prices are expected to fall due to better arrivals.

“The recent import of onions from China and Pakistan has created panic among our farmers, and many of them have started harvesting the crop prematurely so that they do not incur losses,” NCCF chairman Virendra Singh told journalists here.

While 11 tonnes of onions contracted on private account landed at Mumbai on Friday, another 200 tonnes imported by state agencies reached the Mundra Port in Gujarat on the same day.

Mr. Singh said he was not questioning the government's decision to import, but “it will be better if onion shipments are suspended for the next 10 days, by when the situation will improve substantially,” he said in reply to a question that Commerce Minister Anand Sharma had said that more onions would be imported.

Mr. Singh said the onions that had arrived from Pakistan and China were not of good quality. “Onions landing at Mumbai from China are bulky — each weighing about half-a-kg — full of water and not pungent,” he said.

He said he had not seen the onions from Pakistan, adding: “In any case Indian onions are far superior.”The NCCF, which entered the market on January 10, will sell “good quality” onions at Rs.35 per kg through its 365 outlets in Delhi. This will be in addition to the outlets run by Mother Dairy and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India.

Mr. Singh said the NCCF had received requests from Rajasthan, Kerala and Tamil Nadu for subsidised onions, but unless the government decided to extend its subsidy, the onions will be made available to these markets at the economic cost.

The cooperative procures onions from all producing States. On Monday, the average rate in wholesale markets was between Rs.22-26 per kg.

Sources said that with the government's intervention to sell the commodity at a subsidised rate of Rs.35 per kg, the prices will begin to “cool” as arrivals from Maharashtra and Gujarat improve further.

The import of onions from Pakistan and China on private accounts will also affect the market sentiment and prevent hoarding

NCCF officials claimed that the decision to import onions and the government's intervention in the market should have happened earlier.

The officials disagreed that the continuing export of onions even after the crop had been damaged due to untimely rains had created a shortage. According to them, as against the 17 lakh-tonnes export, only 13 lakh tonnes have been exported this year. India exports onions mostly to the Middle-East countries, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Unseasonal rains and unhindered exports to Pakistan had affected tomato supplies as well, with the price of the vegetable at Rs.60 per kg in most retail markets on Sunday. Mother Dairy was selling the “desi” tomato for Rs.36 per kg on Monday.

The Hindu, 18 January, 2011, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article1099021.ece


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