21 April 2025, New Delhi: A new opportunity has opened up for onion farmers in Maharashtra. For the first time, they are exporting onions directly to Middle Eastern countries without involving traders or middlemen. According to Maha-FPC, the apex body of Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) in Maharashtra, 2,000 tonnes of onions will be exported to the Gulf region this season without any intermediaries. This initiative will allow farmers to earn better profits and avoid the issue of low margins.
First Shipment Dispatched to Middle East
On Thursday, local farmers from Nashik sent their first-ever shipment of 30 tonnes of onions to the Middle East without the involvement of traders. This marks a new beginning for onion farmers in Maharashtra. Yogesh Thorat, Managing Director of Maha-FPC, said, “Ten FPCs from Nashik, Dharashiv, Ahilyagarh, and Pune are participating in this export. It’s the first time we’re exporting directly.”
“We receive better prices in export markets. This is a huge opportunity for us,” said Eknath Sanap, a farmer from Naigaon village in Sinnar taluka of Nashik and a director of Goda Dharana FPC. For him, accessing export markets had once seemed like a distant dream due to the complexities of logistics. Now, this initiative not only promises higher income but also encourages farmers to adopt better agricultural practices for high-quality onion production.
Focus on Quality and Grading
For export, the onions need to be sized between 55 mm and 60 mm, which fetches higher prices. “Proper quality and grading facilities are essential for export. This will benefit us in the long run,” said Sanap. Grading refers to sorting onions based on their size. Maha-FPC has started training farmers in skills like packaging, sorting, and grading to meet export market standards.
The goal of Maha-FPC is to enable value addition—such as sorting, grading, and special packaging—at the farmer level itself, so that FPCs can act as direct exporters. “Fewer middlemen mean higher profits for farmers,” said Thorat. “We’ve established storage facilities with a capacity of 19,000 tonnes and are now working toward turning FPCs into export hubs.”
Plans to Expand to Fruits and Vegetables
Maha-FPC’s plans are not limited to onions. This season, they also aim to export 2,500 dozen Devgad mangoes to the Middle Eastern markets. Thorat mentioned that there are future plans to expand this initiative to other vegetables and fruits as well.
Indian onions enjoy stable demand in markets such as the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Bangladesh. Although Bangladesh has currently imposed a ban on Indian onion imports until June, the direct export initiative to the Middle East presents a new economic opportunity for Maharashtra’s farmers.
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