Govt cuts onion export price by $50/tnBS Reporter / New Delhi December 31, 2007The government has cut the minimum export price (MEP) of onion by $50 to $200 per tonne effective January 1, 2008. "Arrivals are heavy and prices have come down in all mandis. At Nasik, prices are as low as Rs 370-380 per quintal. The cut has been taken to provide support to the falling domestic prices," said Alok Ranjan, managing director, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed), the agency that revises MEP on a monthly basis. In New Delhi, the modal price has come down to Rs 500 a quintal since December 1. Modal price is the level at which maximum arrivals take place. Retail prices have also slipped to Rs 10 a kg from Rs 12 in the same period.Between May and October, MEP was more than doubled from $225 to $495 per tonne to discourage exports and boost domestic availability. This was followed by two cuts of $70 a tonne (in November) and $175 a tonne (in December) since domestic prices had softened and arrivals were good. According to National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF), this year
