Country's onion export touches 20 lakh tonne in 8 months.

NASHIK: India's onion export figure has touched the 20 lakh tonne-mark in the first eight months (April-November) of the current financial year 2016-17 - the highest ever export from the country beating the previous best figure of 18.73 lakh tonne registered in 2009-10.

With figure of the last four months yet to come in, the onion export from the country is expected to touch 25 lakh tonne. Moreover, the country's export increased four times during the first eight months of the current financial year compared to the same period last year due to Centre's move to remove Minimum Export Price (MEP) along with the introduction of 5% subsidy (MEIS) for onion exporters.

According to sources from National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation (NAFED), the country has exported 20.10 lakh tonne of onion during April-November against onion export of 5.75 lakh tonne during the corresponding period of 2015-16. However, despite rise in export, the average wholesale onion prices have declined below Rs 500 per quintal due to excess onion production.

When contacted, an official from NAFED said, "There has been excess production of around 25 lakh tonne this year. Hence, although onion export has increased during the first eight months as compared to previous year, it is still low considering the excess production. Moreover, the rise in onion export has not benefitted the farmers as average wholesale onion prices have already declined below Rs 500 per quintal."

The government had removed Minimum Export Price (MEP) from 700 USD to zero MEP in December 2015. Since then, the government has not changed the MEP of onions to boost onion export. This has resulted in rise in onion export. Moreover, the government introduced 5% subsidy from August to December 31, 2016, but again extended the benefits up to March 31 following demand from farmers and onion exporters.

Meanwhile, the average wholesale onion price at the country's largest wholesale onion market was recorded at Rs 470 per quintal on Wednesday. The minimum and maximum wholesale onion prices were recorded at Rs 151 and Rs 581 per quintal, respectively. Around 29,000 quintals of onions were auctioned at Lasalgaon on Wednesday.