"Grateful to Central Govt but...": Farmers of Pimpalgaon on onion purchase by NAFED

Nashik (Maharashtra) [India], August 22 (ANI): Farmers of Pimpalgaon in Maharashtra's Nashik district said that they are grateful to the Central Government for procuring an additional two lakh tonnes of onion from Maharashtra but the government needs to think about B-grade and C-grade quality onions as well.
"I'm grateful to the central government for this decision. This price has been given for the A-grade onions, but the farmers have B-grade and C-grade quality onions as well. They should think about it too," one of the farmers, Sunil Haribabu More said on Tuesday.
Speaking about the decision taken by the government on imposing 40 per cent tax on onion exports, Sunil Haribabu More said, "The government has declared a 40 per cent tax on export if the government thinks something about it and reduces it. Then businessmen will also buy onions at a good price..."
Earlier in the day, the Chairman of the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Limited (NCCF) Vishal Singh said that they have opened centres at 13 places in Maharashtra and will start two centres in Madhya Pradesh as well.
"We have opened our centres at 13 places in Maharashtra and we will start two centres in MP also...We will buy onions at Rs 2,410 per quintal...," NCCF Chairman Vishal Singh said.
Earlier in the day, in a joint press conference with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde welcomed the steps taken by the central government to procure an additional two lakh tonnes of onion from farmers in the state.
The central government started the procurement of an additional two lakh tonnes of onion from farmers in Maharashtra on Tuesday. The decision to procure this additional stock comes as a relief to Maharashtra's farmers.
The announcement of the start of procurement was made after a meeting between Union Minister Piyush Goyal and Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Dhananjay Munde in Delhi.
“The central government always works in the best interest of farmers and buys their produce from time to time… NCCF and NAFED on the direction of the Central Government had procured 3 lakh tonne onions from various parts of Maharashtra, which in the process increased the prices. To create a balance between farmers and consumers, the government has imposed a 40 per cent export duty on onions. This is to ensure domestic availability,” Goyal told ANI. (ANI)