K'taka govt to intervene if onion prices fall below MSP

The state government will intervene only if the price of onion falls below the minimum support price (MSP) announced by the government. As of now MSP is Rs 340 per quintal for the fair average quality (FAQ) onion.

Dharwad DC M S Srikar on Friday said the price prevailing at the APMC in Hubli for FAQ onion on Thursday was Rs 700-800 per quintal and as such the question of farmers selling to the government under MSP scheme did not arise. There was no trading on Friday.

Chief minister Dharam Singh on Thursday last had announced that the state government will bail out onion growers by purchasing the onion at MSP.

There was confusion among farmers about the MSP as the CM did not mention the exact support price. Horticulture minister Alangur Srinivas had announced that the government had begun purchasing onion at MSP.

The government's market intervention is not likely to benefit farmers whose produce does not conform to FAQ. Nearly 30 per cent of the produce within the purview of Hubli APMC does not conform to the FAQ quality norm.

Even farmers with FAQ onion are apprehensive the traders and commission agents may stop purchasing the onion to allow the price to crash and force farmers to sell to the government at MSP.

"Instead of buying from farmers at a higher price, the traders will buy it from the government at a price slightly higher than the MSP," said a farmer from Navalgund. The farmers have demanded that the MSP should be fixed on the basis of the quality of onion. For that there should be proper grading and classification, they urged.

Horatti said that the farmers were getting a good price after a long gap and importing 2,650 tonnes of onion will hit them hard.

He said North Karnataka and Maharashtra had a good onion crop this time and there will be no need to import it if arrangements for proper distribution were made.