Because of the dropping onion prices, the Madhya Pradesh government has assured registered farmers a protected price of 800 rupees (€10.27) per 100 kg from Jun 1, a senior state government official said today. Madhya Pradesh is one of India’s leading onion growers.
"The state has initiated registration process for onion farmers to provide the difference between the spot price and protective price," the official said. The payment would be made if registered farmers sell their produce in June in Agricultural Produce Market Committee markets.
Prices of the bulb in the key market of Indore are currently at 400-600 rupees (€5.13-7.70) per 100 kg, traders said. In reality, the state doesn't want to procure the commodity at the protective price because of inadequate storage facilities.
In 2017-18 (Jul-Jun), Madhya Pradesh procured onions at a protective price of 600 rupees per 100 kg directly from growers and suffered a major loss because half of the crop decayed due to absence of enough cold storages, he said.
The new scheme is a kind of Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana but the newly-elected state government changed its name to Mukhyamantri Pyaz Krishak Protsahan Yojana, the official told.
