Govt Plans to Sell about 50,000 tonnes of Onions from Buffer Stock

The government will sell approximately 50,000 tonnes of onions from its buffer stocks to a few cities such as Delhi and Guwahati, where retail prices are slightly higher than the national average. To keep onion prices stable, the government keeps a buffer stock of 2.5 lakh tonnes on hand.

According to sources, the department of consumer affairs will sell 50,000 tonnes of onions from its buffer stocks to cities such as Delhi and Guwahati.They added that prices in many cities are higher than the national average.On Tuesday, the all-India average price of onions was Rs 26 per kg.

Because onions have a shorter shelf life, the department has written to all states requesting that they place orders if they require onions, according to sources. The Centre is selling onions for about Rs 18 per kg. According to the department, they are also investigating how to improve the shelf life of onions through the radiation process.

In 2020-21, onion production was 266.41 lakh tonnes, while consumption was 160.50 lakh tonnes.Onion prices tend to rise during the lean months of September to December due to their perishable nature and the gap between the rabi and kharif crops.

Overall onion post-harvest losses occur due to a variety of factors such as moisture loss, fungal infection, decay loss, sprouting loss, and so on, which can be reduced through improved storage facilities.

To address the issue of onion post-harvest loss, the department has issued a hackathon/grand challenge to the scientific community, researchers, and startups in order to solicit ideas and develop a prototype for onion post-harvest storage. The challenge has four verticals: improvements in storage structure design, pre-harvesting stage, primary processing and valorisation; value addition and utilisation of onion waste.