Asserting that price rise of some vegetables like onion in the past one month was "temporary", the government today ruled out any possibility of purchasing and managing perishable produce directly from farmers in line with other commodities like wheat and rice.
"There are certain limitations about perishable items... The government can not purchase and manage vegetables and fruits. Steps are being taken to enhance productivity of these items to keep their prices under check," Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said in the Lok Sabha during the Question Hour.
He said price rise in case of onion was temporary as it was due to damage to Kharif onion crops as a result of untimely rains during November-December, 2010 in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Pawar also justified steps to lift ban on exports saying the farmers were losing heavily after the situation became normal and the prices crashed in most onion producing states.
The price which had touched a peak of Rs 3,800 per quintal in December, 2010 has now come down to as low of Rs 200 a quintal, forcing the government to reverse certain decisions taken to control prices.
The government had banned export of onion while permitting free imports to enhance domestic supply, the minister said adding that exports have been allowed.
He justified the steps saying allowing exports was essential so that farmers could sell their produce at right price in view of prevailing low prices in the domestic markets.
With a view to increasing production and productivity of fruits, vegetables and other horticultural crops, the government is implementing two mission -- Horticulture Mission for North East and the Himalayan states, and National Horticulture Mission in the remaining states.
To a suggestion for setting up a corpus like "Price Stabilisation Fund" to help farmers in case of extreme volatile price situation like in onion, Pawar replied in the negative but said the government was aware of farmers' plight and was taking steps accordingly.
