State Govt to throw away 6 lakh quintals of rotting onions

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From April 18 to 24 the federation graded the onions and arranged auctions of 3.70 lakh quintals. However, it could auction only 2.45 lakh quintals at down to earth prices ranging from Rs 5 to Rs 53 per quintal. The federation had bought the same onions from farmers at prices ranging from Rs 300 to Rs 350 per quintal when the market prices were between Rs 100 to Rs 250 per quintal.

The federation is now left with 6.16 lakh quintals of onions procured by it. The onions have outlived their shelf life and have started rotting at various procurement centres. This is besides the 92,165 quintals of onions which have totally rotted at Lasalgaon, Pimpalgaon Baswant, Kalwan, Satana, Vani and Nashik procurement centres and declared unfit for consumption by human or cattle.

The minister for marketing Ganpatrao Deshmukh, who convened a meeting of Government officials here on Saturday said that last ditch efforts be made to auction the 6.16 lakh quintals of onions within 15 days as it had started rotting and that the onset of monsoon would make matters worse.

He asked the concerned tehsildars to select spots for dumping the unsold rotting onions in quarries, mountains and uninhabited places to prevent any health hazard. The collector was asked to coordinate the exercise as it involved various departments like the irrigation and public works, for providing vehicles, fuel and manpower. The federation had bought onions worth Rs 100.46 crore from farmers. About Rs 76 crore have been paid to the farmers and the balance amount is yet to be disbursed. On the other hand the federation is yet to receive Rs 10.48 crore from seven brokers appointed by it to transport onions countrywide. The outstandings from various brokers are: Jayantilal Mangaldas and Sons, Pune, Rs 2.72 crore; Bansilal B Raisoni, Pune, Rs 1.11 crore; Motilal Kachardas and Sons, Yeola, Rs 2.15 crore; Sachin Traders, Deola, Rs 1.07 crore; Mahavir Trading Co., Bambari, Ahmednagar, Rs 2.51 crore; K V R Traders, Tadepalliguddam (Andhra Pradesh) Rs 75.54 lakh; and J M Thakkar, Pimpalgaon Baswant, Rs 14.92.Besides, NAFED is yet to pay Rs 6.07 crore to the federation.

The Maharashtra Government has urged the Centre to delete onions from the list of essential commodities and share 50 per cent of the loss arising out of onion procurement, Deshmukh said, pointing out that the State Government would conduct an audit of the whole exercise. The bumper crop this year had led to an onion glut pushing down prices below Rs 150 per quintal. The State Government intervened to provide relief to farmers by buying onions through the federation at higher than the market prices. The Government’s plan to export the commodity failed as onions from Pakistan and China were available at cheaper rates in Gulf countries. The Government’s move to distribute the commodity through the Public Distribution System also failed as onions were available at a much cheaper price in the open market.