Onion stocks of about 4 MT stored in India: NHRDF

New Delhi: Onion prices are unlikely to rise further as the country has sufficient stocks of nearly 4 million tonnes stored in godowns, a top official of the National Horticulture Research Development Foundation said.  NHRDF is a society which guides farmers, exporters and others concerned with improving the productivity and quality of horticultural crops especially onion and maintains the data of the crop. “About 39 lakh tonnes (LT) of rabi onion is stored in the country at present and, I don’t think there is any scope for further price rise in the crop,” NHRDF Director R P Gupta told PTI. Out of this, maximum onion about 15 LT is stored in Maharashtra, followed by 10 LT in Madhya Pradesh. However, Gupta added that sufficient onion stocks are available in the country but a lot depends on the arrival of Kharif onion crop. The per month demand of onion in the country is about 12 LT. Meanwhile, the total production of onion in the country during 2013-14, comprising both kharif and rabi crop, is estimated to rise to 192 LT from 168 LT in the year 2012-13. Onion is predominantly a rabi crop as it is grown throughout the country during the season, while in kharif season it is mainly grown in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. “Demand of onion in the country during the period from June to November is met through stored rabi onions and fresh kharif onions. It seems that there could be delay in arrival of kharif onion but we can manage about three to four months from onion stocks,” Gupta added. NHRDF Director also emphasised that on back of higher prices, the farmers in this kharif season has grown onion at larger scale. In the year 2013-14, export of kitchen staple has fallen to 13.58 LT from 18.22 LT in 2012-13. Meanwhile, government has also fixed the minimum export price (MEP) of onion at $300 per tonne. PTI