New Delhi: India has exported more than 45,000 tonnes of onion since the ban on outbound shipments was lifted early this month, a top official said on Wednesday.
The exports have provided relief to farmers after curbs were imposed to keep domestic supplies steady ahead of general elections. India, the world's largest vegetable exporter restricted bulb exports last December and then prolonged them in March, following a price increase caused by slow output.
Nidhi Khare, Consumer Affairs Ministry Secretary, told a national media outlet that more than 45,000 tonnes of onions have been exported since the lifting of the ban, mostly to the Middle East and Bangladesh.
To keep onion prices low throughout the election season, the government relaxed the embargo on May 4 while imposing a minimum export price (MEP) of $550 per tonne. Khare stated that the expected good monsoon this year will result in greater seeding of kharif (summer) crops, especially onion, beginning in June.
She noted that state-owned organizations have begun acquiring onions from the recent rabi (winter) harvest in order to construct a goal of 5,00,000-tonne buffer stock for the current year.
According to the Agriculture Ministry's preliminary predictions, the country's onion production will plummet 16 percent from the previous year to 25.47 million tonnes in the 2023-24 crop year, owing to lower output in important growing regions such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.
In India, onion is cultivated in an area of 1.54 million hectares and production is 25.44 million MT, according to the NHB, 2023-24 first advance estimate. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Telangana are the major opinion producing states.
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