New Delhi: The Central government will offload about 50,000 tonnes of onions from its buffer stocks to a few cities like Delhi and Guwahati, where retail prices are a little more than the all-India average rates.
Significantly, in a bid to stabilise onion prices, the Centre is maintaining a buffer stock of 2.5 lakh tonnes of onion.
''The department of consumer affairs will sell 50,000 tonnes of onions to cities like Delhi and Guwahati from its buffer stocks. There are many cities where prices are higher than the all-India average rates,'' PTI quoted sources as saying.
The source further informed that the department has written to all states to place orders if they need onions since the shelf life of onions is less.
Notably, the all-India average prices of onions stood at Rs 26 per kg on Tuesday. However, the Centre is offering onions at around Rs 18 per kg.
As per the report by PTI, the sources further informed that the department is also exploring ways on improving the shelf life of onions through the radiation process.
In 2020-21, onion production was 266.41 lakh tonnes and consumption was 160.50 lakh tonnes.
The prices of onions are about to see a jump in the month of September due to their perishable nature and the gap between the rabi and Kharif crops.
To address the problem of post-harvest loss of onions, the department has initiated a Hackathon/Grand Challenge for the scientific community, researchers and startups to come up with a prototype for post-harvest storage of onions and development.
Several factors such as loss of moisture content, fungal infection, decay loss, sprouting loss etc lead to the overall post-harvest losses of onion.
To address the problem of post-harvest loss of onions, the department has rolled out a hackathon/grand challenge to the scientific community, researchers and startups for seeking ideas and development of a prototype for post-harvest storage of onions.
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