Maharashtra onion growers are seeking a ₹10,000 crore revival package from the Union government, citing sustained financial losses linked to export curbs and market volatility. Bharat Dighole, founder-president of the Maharashtra State Onion Growers Farmers Association, says repeated policy interventions have repeatedly disrupted demand and pricing for onion. He attributes losses to what he describes as flawed export policies, along with issues including spurious seeds and storage losses.
In particular, he points to government decisions to impose onion export bans in 2019, 2020 and in the 2023-24 period, as well as a 40% export duty and time-specific minimum export prices set at $850 per tonne and $550 per tonne. Dighole also says the release of buffer onion stock by NAFED and NCCF into the domestic market at lower rates has pressured prices further, contributing to substantial losses for farmers.
Both reports describe the farmers’ demand for a revival package and for more stable export policy, but they present the farmers’ concerns rather than any new government measures or responses.
