The Central Government is preparing a buffer stock keeping in view the interests of the consumers and farmers in the country. Buffer stock is being created in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.
The National Consumer Cooperative Federation of India (NCCF), under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, is creating the buffer stock. NCCF will prepare buffer stock by purchasing 1.25 lakh metric tonnes of onions this year.
A senior official of the Central Consumer Affairs told in a conversation that apart from NCCF, NAFED, which comes under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, is also making a buffer stock of 1.25 lakh metric tonnes separately.
It is worth mentioning that recently the news of farmers getting the low prices of onions according to the cost in Maharashtra was in discussion. The Consumer Affairs Ministry is serious about these reports.
In order to prevent farmers from selling their produce below cost, the ministry is procuring onions from Nashik and transporting them to the National Capital Region of Delhi (Delhi-NCR), Ranchi and other cities.
A senior official of the ministry said that NCCF is buying from farmers in Nashik at the rate of Rs 8.75 per kg and selling it in the mandis of Delhi and other cities at Rs 9 to 11 per kg. NCCF has so far bought 125 metric tonnes of onions from Nashik and sold them in the mandis of Delhi. NCCF is doing this work on the principle of no profit, no loss so that farmers can be saved from loss.
According to a senior official, the onion will be supplied to other parts of the country during the off-season only from the buffer stock created in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana. He informed me that while preparing the buffer stock, the government is taking care of both the onion-producing farmers and the consumers.
The official said that with this step of the government, the farmers will not have to wander to sell their produce. Due to this effort of the government, this time the prices of onions remained under control in the off-season i.e. September-October. Often in these months, the price of onion reaches Rs 100 per kg but this time it did not happen.
Last year, a buffer stock of 2.5 lakh metric tonnes of onion was done. This stock was prepared by Nafed but this year NCCF is also making a buffer stock of onions. Both Nafed and NCCF will maintain a buffer stock of 1.25 lakh metric tonnes each.