DHARWAD: Following a Government notification, the district administration has suspended procurement of onions under the minimum support price for ten days from Sunday.

The notification, which was issued on Saturday evening, is aimed at enabling the district administration to dispose of the stock of onion in the APMC yards of the respective districts.

The district administration has procured 9.23 lakh quintals of onion through three procurement centres set up by it in the district. The district administration has been able to sell 4.23 lakh quintals of onion to various markets, including those in neighbouring States.

However, five lakh quintals of onion are lying in godowns of APMC yards, making it difficult for the staff of the procurement centres to find space for storage.

The Government move will give temporary relief to the district administration, which can now utilise the ten-day period to dispose of the stock.

Temporary

Deputy Commissioner M.S. Srikar had requested farmers not to worry, as the suspension of the procurement is only temporary and would resume after the stipulated period. However, farmers would not be allowed to pile up onion produce in the APMC yard till the suspension period was over, he added. Farmerscould sell their produce to onion merchants, if they were satisfied with the price offered by them, he added. On an average, the procurement centres in the district have registered arrival of around 40,000 to 50,000 quintals of onion a day. Since onions need to be graded manually, it is time for the staff to complete the procurement process.

The district administration has begun the process of identifying prospective buyers of onions in other States, including Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. It has sold some of its stock to traders in Hyderabad.

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