Farmers in Maharashtra have welcomed the Centre’s decision to relax onion procurement norms, but say the move does little to address their biggest concern of low prices. They are demanding a procurement price of Rs 3000 per quintal, stating that the rates currently offered by government agencies remain below production costs, according to a report by PTI.
The demand comes as the centre expands onion procurement for its price stabilisation buffer and eases quality specifications to allow more produce to qualify for purchase.
Why are farmers unhappy despite relaxed procurement rules?
The Centre has expanded the acceptable onion size range for procurement from 45-65mm to 35-70 mm and has relaxed regulations related to blemishes, skin defects, colour variation and minor sun damage.
While welcoming the move, farmer leaders said the main issue remains pricing.
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“Norms have been relaxed but farmers are still experiencing losses. The real question is when onion prices will increase,” Maharashtra State Onion Growers Association’s Nashik district president Jaydeep Bhadane stated to PTI.
The association has demanded a minimum procurement price of Rs 3,000 per quintal. As per PTI report, farmers claim that NAFED and NCCF are procuring onion at around Rs 1,580 per quintal, whereas the average cost of production is about Rs 1,800 quintal.
“When farmers are forced to sell onions below production cost, they are pushed into financial distress. The rates announced by the central procurement agencies are like rubbing salt into farmers’ wounds,” association president Bharat Dighole stated to PTI.
The farmer’s body has appealed for a subsidy of Rs 1,500 per quintal for growers who sold onions at low prices over the past four to five months.
What changes has the government made this season?
The Centre has set a target of procuring 2 lakh tonnes of onions for the 2026-27 price stabilisation buffer. Procurement started on May 15 and is being conducted by the National Ahgriculatural Coopeartive Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and the National Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NCCF), Consumers Affairs Nidhi Kahre told to The Indian Express.
According to The Indian Express, both agencies have been entrusted with procurement targets of 1 lakh tonnes each, while storage responsibility has been assigned to Central Warehousing Corporation.
Government officials, as quoted by the newspaper said payments to farmers would be made directly into bank accounts within three days of procurement through dedicated online portals.
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The Maharashtra government has also waived Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) fees on onion procurement transactions undertaken by NAFED and NCCF.
Will the measure help stabilise onion prices?
According to the PIB statement issued on June 1, the government increased the onion procurement price from May 26 to encourage procurement as onion arrivals in wholesale markets increased. The centre has also maintained that onion availability remains adequate.
PIB said that onion production for 2025-26 is estimated at around 273 metric tonnes, in comparison to 307 lakh metric tonnes in the previous year. It also added that onion prices remain largely range-bound and have not shown unusual volatility.
TOPICSeconomy newsMaharashtraOnion PricesThis article was first uploaded on June seven, twenty twenty-six, at nine minutes past four in the afternoon. © IE Online Media Services (P) Ltd