13 December 2023, New Delhi: Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda held a high-level meeting on the issue of onion farmers in New Delhi. The central government has banned onion export. Farmers from Maharashtra and other states took to the streets to protest against this decision of the government.
Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda reviewed the situation in a meeting with senior officials of NAFED, NCCF, Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs on Tuesday. To provide a fair price to the farmers for onion, the government had directed NCCF and NAFED to purchase 7 lakh tonnes of onion for buffer stock in the current financial year. Till now, onion has been procured from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh in two phases, while efforts are being made by the agencies to purchase onion from the farmers of Gujarat.
Efforts are being made to purchase quality produce
To provide remunerative prices to the farmers, NCCF and NAFED have started distributing pamphlets to spread awareness among the farmers and FPOs. Besides, advertisements are also being published in newspapers for wide publicity and to reach out to the farmers to provide fair prices to the farmers by purchasing quality produce.
During the meeting, the Secretary Agriculture said that meetings have been held with the state governments to encourage farmers to sow more onions
