Pune/Nashik, May 15 (PTI) The Centre will procure onions at Rs 12.35 per kg rate, or Rs 1,235 a quintal, from farmers, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced on Friday in the backdrop of the falling prices of the bulb.

He made the announcement while speaking at an event in Satara in Maharashtra, a major onion producing state, in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Chouhan said onion exports have been affected due to the ongoing crisis in West Asia, triggered by the joint US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28.

The Union minister stated that he discussed the onion price crisis with Fadnavis.

"As onion exports have been affected due to the West Asian crisis, onion prices have fallen. I would like to announce that, with effect from today (Friday), the procurement price for fresh onions will be Rs 12.35 per kg. We will procure the entire stock and support onion growers," he said.

Directives in this regard have been issued to the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), Chouhan added.

Fadnavis, while speaking at the event later, reiterated Chouhan's announcement on the onion procurement rate.

The Centre and the state government's announcement, however, failed to bring cheers to onion growers in Maharashtra, which houses Lasalgaon town, renowned as Asia’s largest wholesale market of the essential kitchen staple.

The Maharashtra State Onion Growers Association (MSOGA) asserted the Rs 1,235 a quintal procurement rate was not adequate, saying it does not cover even the production cost, and demanded Rs 3,000 a quintal support price.

It also sought compensation for farmers who have sold onions at very low prices in recent months and warned of a protest if their demands were not accepted.

In a press release issued in Nashik, the association's founder-president, Bharat Dighole, termed the procurement decision "an act of rubbing salt into farmers' wounds" and said the rate was grossly inadequate in view of rising cultivation costs.

"This decision is not a relief for farmers, but an act of rubbing salt into their wounds. At a time when onion production costs have risen sharply, the government's announced procurement rate of Rs 1,235 per quintal is extremely inadequate, unjust and anti-farmer," he said.

Referring to procurement rate announced in 2023, Dighole pointed out that Fadnavis, who was then Deputy Chief Minister, had declared that the agri-commodity would be procured at Rs 2,410 per quintal following protests by onion growers' organisations after a price crash that year.

"Today, when he (Fadnavis) is the Chief Minister, and despite a steep rise in the prices of fertilisers, seeds, labour, pesticides, transport, electricity and storage over the last three years, the government is offering farmers less than half that rate," he maintained.

Dighole questioned why the government could not provide at least Rs 3,000 per quintal rate for onions in 2026 if procurement at Rs 2,410 per quintal was possible in 2023.

"If Rs 2,410 per quintal was possible in 2023, then why is the government procuring onions at only Rs 1,235 per quintal in 2026, at a time of rising inflation, instead of giving at least Rs 3,000 per quintal? Whose interests does this decision serve?" he asked.

The association noted onion cultivation involves substantial expenditure on seeds, saplings, labour, chemical fertilisers, pesticides, irrigation, transport and storage, while many farmers take loans to cultivate the crop.

"The announced rate of Rs 1,235 per quintal cannot even cover the production cost," the release said.

The organisation demanded that farmers who sold onions at throwaway prices in recent months be immediately receive compensation equivalent to the difference between the government-announced procurement rate and the actual sale price.

The association demanded immediate operationalisation of NAFED and NCCF procurement centres, corruption-free buying directly through agricultural produce market committees, removal of restrictions, and concrete measures by the Centre to boost onion exports.

Dighole warned that onion growers across Maharashtra would stage protests if the government failed to revise the procurement decision.

"Onion growers provide food security to the country. Giving them prices below production cost is a grave injustice. The government must immediately correct its decision and provide justice to farmers. Otherwise, onion growers in Maharashtra will have no option but to take to the streets," he cautioned. PTI SPK MR RSY