NAFED and NCCF sold thousands of tonnes of onion through e-NAM.
NAFED has so far sent more than 3,000 tonnes of onion to many markets in Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. At the same time, approval has been sought from the Consumer Ministry to start sales in the mandis of Uttar Pradesh. Sources say major cities like Varanasi, Prayagraj, Kanpur, and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh are likely to be covered initially.
National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation and National Cooperative Consumer Federation (NCCF) sold more than 900 tonnes of onion through the online platform e-NAM on August 30-31. This also includes trade of 152 tonnes through inter-state transactions. The sale of onion through the e-NAM platform was the government's immediate response to protests by traders in some mandis in Maharashtra. Where he had stopped the auction in protest against the 40 percent export duty imposed on onions. In response, the government had directed both NAFED and NCCF to explore alternative routes for releasing onion storage.
The purpose of this sale was to prevent the price of onion from increasing. However, onion farmers suffered huge losses due to the efforts of the government. But, the government ignored the farmers and only took care of the interests of the consumers. The government did not want that after tomato, the price of onion should also increase. Also, there should be no uproar regarding this, because he has to face elections soon.
Possibility of increasing sales through e-NAM
NAFED which had started the sale of onion through e-NAM. After taking physical stock from Lasalgaon, Maharashtra, one was able to sell 5,08.11 tonnes within the state. The National Consumer Cooperative Federation (NCCF) used both intra-state mandi and inter-state transactions. Lasalgaon Mandi is located in Nashik, Maharashtra. It is claimed that this is the largest onion market in Asia.
Also read: What caused the record-breaking fall in onion prices?
Sources say that both agencies are likely to increase sales through e-NAM. This can happen if more traders are brought on stage during the auction and they are made to understand the quality and logistics issues. The government has already provided the facility for the logistics value chain in the agriculture sector on the e-NAM portal.
Why did the farmers become very angry?
On August 17, the central government imposed a 40 percent duty on onion export. In protest against this, farmers and traders organized a strike in markets like Lasalgaon and Pimpalgaon and got them closed. To reduce the resentment of farmers, the government decided to purchase an additional 2 lakh tonnes of onion. But, common farmers did not get any special benefit from this.
On the other hand, the government decided to release onion in the market from the buffer stock of 3 lakh tonnes already created. After that, a decision was taken to purchase 2 lakh more tonnes. Before that, NCCF had sold about 21,000 tonnes of onion and NAFED had sold about 15,000 tonnes of onion. The Center announced on August 11 that it will release onions in the open market from the buffer stock by targeting the major markets of those states or regions. Where retail prices are very high.
NAFED will launch Onion in these markets
Official sources say that NAFED has so far sent more than 3,000 tonnes of onion to various markets in Haryana, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh. Also, approval has been sought from the Consumer Ministry to start sales in the mandis of Uttar Pradesh. Sources say that major cities like Lucknow, Varanasi, Prayagraj, and Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh are likely to be covered initially. After that, depending on the response, other places can also be included.
