Govt bolsters onion buffer by additional 2 lakh tonnes

  • August 21, 2023
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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Govt bolsters onion buffer by additional 2 lakh tonnes

Subject :Economy

Section: Agriculture

In News: Government raises the quantum of onion buffer to 5 lakh tonne this year, after achieving the initial procurement target of 3 lakh tonne.

Key Points:

  • Government has announced it will procure an additional 2 lakh tonnes of onion in order to maintain a total buffer stock of 5 lakh tonnes this year and use that for retail intervention.
  • The announcement has come a day after the government imposed a 40 per cent duty on the export of onions to improve local supplies and check its prices.
  • For the current 2023-24 fiscal, the target for onion buffer was kept at 3 lakh tonnes, which has already been procured. Currently, the same buffer stock is being disposed of in the targeted markets in select states to improve the local availability and check price rise.
  • According to the official data, all-India average retail price of onion was ruling 19 per cent higher at Rs 29.73 per kg on Sunday compared to Rs 25 per kg in the year-ago period.
  • How it works?
    • The buffer stock is maintained under the Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) to meet any exigencies, if rates go up significantly during the lean supply season.
    • The National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) have been directed to procure one lakh tonne each to achieve the additional procurement target alongside calibrated disposal of the procured stocks in major consumption centres.
    • Apart from releasing in major markets, onions from the buffer are also being made available to retail consumers at a subsidized rate of Rs 25 per kg through retail outlets and mobile vans of NCCF from August 21 in key markets.
  • Opposition:
    • Growers in Maharashtra have threatened to agitate against the Centre’s move to release onion from the buffer stock of 3 lakh tonnes created this year.
    • Their view is that this move will hurt the return on their crops.
National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India (NCCF):

  •  It was established on 16th October 1965 to function as the apex body of consumer cooperatives in the country.
  • It is an organization to promote consumer cooperative movement in the country, aspires to facilitate the voluntary formation and democratic functioning of cooperatives, based on self-reliance and mutual aid for overall economic betterment and financial autonomy.
  • It is registered under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act, 2002.
  • NCCF functions under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India.

National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED)

  • National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) is an apex organization of marketing cooperatives for agricultural produce in India.
  • t was founded on 2 October 1958 to promote the trade of agricultural produce and forest resources across the nation.
  • It is registered under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act.
  • NAFED is now one of the largest procurement as well as marketing agencies for agricultural products in India.
economy Govt bolsters onion buffer by additional 2 lakh tonnes