Fresh summer onions arriving at dist APMCs get better rates

Nashik: Arrival of the fresh summer onions — harvested between March and April — has started at Lasalgaon and other Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) in the district.Unlike the kharif and late kharif produce, summer onions have a shelf life of over six months and they cater to the market until the arrival of the next new kharif crop by mid-Oct.The new summer crops are fetching around Rs1,320 per quintal, while average wholesale price of kharif onions has dropped to Rs900 per quintal as against Rs1,500 per quintal last month.According to the farmers, the price they are receiving for their produce is less than the production cost."The cost of onion production is around Rs1,800 per quintal and farmers incur heavy losses if they get any price below that. Currently, the supply of late kharif onions coming to the market is large as compared to the arrival of the summer onions," Bharat Dighole, president of Maharashtra State Onion Growers Association, said."The average wholesale onion price of late kharif onions has declined by around 40% in the last one month. Farmers are selling the produce below the production cost and are incurring heavy losses. Hence, we want the state govt to provide a grant of Rs1,500 per quintal to those farmers who sold their produce below the production cost during the last six months," he added.Owing to the long shelf life of summer onions, farmers prefer storing them with a hope of getting better prices. They sell their produce as per their requirement of money and as per the market rates.On the contrary, kharif and late kharif onions have a shelf life of less than 25 days and farmers have no option but to sell the produce at the prevailing market rates.On Wednesday, a total of 14,498 quintals of late kharif onions were auctioned at Lasalgaon APMC. In comparison only 2,634 quintals of summer onions were auctioned at Lasalgaon.