Too much or too little

Poor storage facilities means a periodic swing between surplus and shortage

Farmers have two channels for selling the onions they produce. The first is commission agents or traders in regulated markets like Lasalgaon in Nashik, who in turn sell the onions to wholesalers or retailers.

The second is selling their produce to cooperative marketing societies at the village level, who sell their produce to wholesalers and retailers.

The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and other such agencies procure the required quota from cooperative societies.

They rarely buy their produce from commission agents, thereby benefiting small farmers as they receive a better price for their produce.

Retailers say the problem is two-fold. The first is when onions flood the markets twice a year — in February and October — bringing about a surplus which brings prices down and makes farmers protest.

And the second problem crops up when the opposite happens — shortage during the off-production period of August and September. During this time, onion prices rise.

“This is the time when onion prices are the highest because the last crop has run out in the market and there is a shortage. However, as harvest time is around the corner, the new produce will soon flood the market, bringing a fall in prices.

Right now, consumers are paying more, but it is the middleman who benefits, not farmers. Next month when the fresh crop arrives, farmers will suffer again as the prices fall,” explains Vijay Jawandhia, a farmer leader.

One way to solve this price fluctuation is to improve storage facilities. “There is a need to remove humidity and ensure air circulation within the available storage facilities,” says a wholesale dealer.