Centre procures 52,460 tonne onion till May for buffer stock

The Centre has procured 52,460 tonne of onion till May-end this year for maintaining a buffer stock, a senior Consumer Affairs Ministry official said on Friday.

The government for the last few years has been maintaining a buffer stock of onion to tackle price rise during the lean season. Onion is being procured through an agency National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed).

A procurement target of 2.50 lakh tonne of rabi 2022 onion has been fixed for 2022-23.

"Nafed has reportedly procured 52,460.34 tonne of onion till May 31, this year," the official said.

The target set for the current year will be achieved by next month, the official added.

In 2021-22, a total quantity of 2.08 lakh tonne of rabi (winter) onion was procured for calibrated and targeted releases to stabilise prices during the lean season.

As per the Agriculture Ministry's estimate, the country's total onion production is estimated to increase by 16.81 per cent to 31.12 million tonne in the 2022-23 crop year (July-June), compared to 26.64 million tonne in the 2021-22 crop year.