Farmers and traders protesting against a high minimum export price (MEP) for onions as it restricts overseas shipments on Thursday welcomed the government decision to lower the price to $150 a tonne, which they said would at least help them recover their input costs.
Onion growers in Maharashtra had been agitating over the high MEP for the kitchen staple, which resulted in a crash in prices of the bulb to Rs 2.5-3 a kg in the domestic market, less than the production cost of Rs 4/kg. “Lowering of the export price by $100 a tonne to $150 a tonne yesterday will certainly boost outbound shipment of the bulb,” Mumbai’s Agriculture Export Association President Ajit Shah told PTI.
The decision to reduce the minimum export price is expected to bring some relief to the onion farmer, Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said. “There was a drastic fall in onion prices in the state during the last 15-20 days. This decision increases scope for improvement in the prices,” a statement issued by the minister’s office said.
Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and Vikhe Patil had followed up with the Commerce and Agriculture ministries to reduce the minimum export price, it said.
