Hyderabad: In a bid to save the onion farmers from getting poor prices for their crop, Telangana government has started buying the commodity for Rs 8,000 per tonne, a senior official of the state Agricultural Marketing Department said on October 17. According to G Lakshmi Bai, Additional Director of Marketing, the higher production of onions in neighbouring Maharashtra and Karnataka, results in Telangana markets being flooded with the commodity, bringing its price down to almost Rs 2,000 per tonne (Rs 2 per kg).
"The prices of onion are hovering at lower levels during the past ten days. There is excess production in Maharashtra and Karnataka. There is lot of stored onion available in Maharashtra. It was supposed to be disposed of before October. Since it is not done, prices have been crashed. "The state government started buying onion at Rs 8,000 per tonne (Rs 8 per kg) from Mahabubnagar markets. So far we have purchased about 6,800 tonnes. We will continue buying until the season is over," Lakshmi Bai told PTI.
A senior official of Telangana Horticulture Department said onion is cultivated in about 20,000 hectares in the state with an expected yield of 20 tonnes per hectare. A wholesale dealer of onion at Malakpet Gunj said the government is buying the cheapest variety (Kunool variety) whose shelf life is very short. According to him, the current rate of medium to good variety is between Rs 7,000 to Rs 12,000 (per tonne).
