NAFED, NCCF to buy onions directly from farmers at APMCs: CM Fadnavis

Nashik: The Centre has approved procurement of onions directly from farmers at Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) through central agencies — National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF), chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Wednesday.Presently, onion procurements are being done by both the central agencies in Nashik district outside APMCs.Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Union home and cooperation minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday over the onion price issue and related concerns, Fadnavis said the state has urged the Centre to increase the procurement target from the existing 2 lakh metric tonnes (MT) to 10 lakh MT, and a positive decision in this connection is expected soon.Fadnavis said the onion procurement price was increased to Rs 1,580 per quintal from Tuesday, while the state has also sought a further hike to provide additional relief to farmers.Highlighting export-related concerns, he said large-scale export of onion seeds is shrinking the export market for domestic onions. He added that the demand to impose a substantial export surcharge on onion seeds has also been accepted.Farmers have frequently complained that NAFED and NCCF reject produce by labelling it as inferior under the pretext of grading. To address this issue, grading will now be carried out using mechanised systems, ensuring greater transparency and fair treatment to farmers, he said.During the meeting, several measures were discussed to stabilise wholesale onion prices and support farmers. Fadnavis said Union minister Amit Shah responded positively to the proposals.State cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who was present at the meeting, stressed the need for a stable and long-term onion export policy. “The Centre should take decisions on imposing export bans or minimum export price (MEP) only after consulting onion-producing states. The incentive under the RoDTEP (remission of duties and taxes on export products) scheme should be increased from 1.9% to 4%,” Bhujbal said.Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union minister for consumer affairs and public distribution Pralhad Joshi, deputy chief ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar, and cabinet ministers Girish Mahajan, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, Dattatray Bharane and Dada Bhuse were also present at the meeting.BOX-Shah agreed to increase sugar MSP, sought proposal over dual pricing of sugar from Maha: CMKolhapur: Union cooperation minister Amit Shah agreed that there is a need to increase the minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar, which is kept at Rs 31 per kg since 2019, said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis after meeting with Shah in New Delhi on Wednesday.Fadnavis said Shah has sought a proposal from Maharashtra govt over dual pricing of sugar- one rate for sugar sold for household consumption and another for commercial such as beverage and confectionery industry. The other issues raised by the delegation led by Fadnavis were: increase in quota of ethanol procurement from sugar cane based distilleries to which Shah assured decision in two months, loan restructuring and returns on interest subvention both issues to be resolved in cooperation of state govt told Shah in the meeting.“Amit Shah agreed that there is need to increase MSP of sugar. He approved to decide to increase ethanol procurement quota in two months, agreed to pay the mills the returns as per interest subvention scheme and assured the demand of loan restructuring with the help of the state government. He has sought proposal on dual pricing of sugar, the proposal is ready soon we will submit it. If the proposal is accepted many issues sugar industry is facing will be resolved. The other members of the delegation also raised some important points, union cooperation minister has sought a separate proposal on the demands. He has assured to take decisions on the demands we raised in ten days,” said CM addressing media at Delhi. -- Abhijeet Patil