Price fall: Centre to buy 200,000-tonne onions from Madhya Pradesh

In order to provide relief to farmers from falling prices of onion, the Centre has decided to procure 2,00,000 tonnes of the crop from Madhya Pradesh, the country's second largest producer. Wholesale prices of onion have fallen sharply below Rs 6 per kg in the state as the crop production during late kharif season of the 2016-17 crop year (July-June) was higher. "We have approved procurement of 2 lakh tonnes (LT) of onions under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) from MP," a senior Agriculture Ministry official said. The procurement will be undertaken by the MP-Markfed at Rs 5,867 per tonne for fair and average quality (FAQ) of onion with overhead expenses of Rs 1,467 per tonne or actual whichever is less, the official added. The decision comes against the backdrop of farmers in MP agitating against the fall in prices of agri-commodities. They are seeking higher support price for their produce and waiver of loans. Commodity Trading Tips