The government imported 11,000 tonnes from Turkey to alleviate the onion shortage

New delhi date. December 1, 2019, Sunday

To alleviate the shortage of onions in the country and to meet domestic supply, the government's company MMTC has ordered 11000 tonnes of onion import from Turkey on behalf of the central government. The second time was ordered by MMTC.

The public sector firm had earlier ordered the import of 6060 tonnes of onion from Egypt. Last month, the cabinet approved a proposal to import 1.2 lakh tonnes of onion to control the price and to get onion in the yard.

The government had earlier banned the export of onions and restricted the stock to wholesalers and retailers for a specified period. According to sources, the MMTC has ordered 11,000 tonnes of onion from Turkey and the quantity may be available by January next year.

Also, according to the order of 6090 tonnes of onion given to Egypt, the quantity will also arrive at the Mumbai-Sheva port of Mumbai in the second week of this month.

Home Minister Amit Shah formed a group of ministers to control the onion prices. Onion prices were very high all over the country and in some places even 120 rupees per kilo was reported to have been paid.

The crop was 26 per cent less than estimated and the total production in the country was only 30 million tonnes. Dungli is a seasonal crop that is ripe in the months of March to June and kharif crops occur between October to December.

The planting was delayed by 3-4 weeks late in the 2019-20 rainfall. Besides, the onion-growing states like Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh had been raining for a long time due to which the standing crop was destroyed, ”Paswan told a press conference.