Co-operative major National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed) plans to purchase up to 3,000 tonnes of onions this month from the open market for its commercial operations. “As current prices are fairly good for buying, Nafed plans to procure up to 3,000 tonnes of onions by the end of May,” UKS Chauhan, managing director, Nafed said.
The co-operative started its procurement operation on May 12 from the country’s main trading hub, Lasalgaon and Pimpalgaon in Maharashtra. It is procuring good quality onions at Rs 500-550 a quintal, he said. Chauhan said the co-operative could buy more onions in the coming months depending on prices. Nafed’s procurement is expected to give a big relief to farmers as prices have fallen below the production cost in the last few weeks.