Maharashtra is the largest grower of onions in the country, with an export share of 80%. However, many farmers in the Nashik onion belt are in dire straits financially. Last month, the state government announced subsidy on onions sold from November 1 to December 15, due to the drop in onion prices.
Now, the Maharashtra government has given the go-ahead to extend the subsidy of `200 per quintal for onion farmers by a fortnight. Till now, farmers who had sold their onion between November 1 and December 15 were eligible for the subsidy, with individual quantity being capped at 20 tons. Now, the chief minister has given an in-principle approval to extend the subsidy till December 31, 2018, said Subhash Deshkmukh, Maharashtra Minister of Cooperation.
The minister said that the demand had come up from farmers during a meet in Solapur and he immediately got in touch with the CM Devendra Fadnavis, who gave the green light to extend the scheme. This is an in-principle approval and report has been sought by the government from the market committees, he said.
The Financial Express reported how the crop area in Nashik increased from 124,000 hectares in 2013-14 to 228,000 hectares in 2017-18, while production doubled from 2,142,000 ton to 4,600,000 ton. There has been almost an 80% rise in the area under cultivation of onions in the last couple of years.
