Centre increases minimum export price of onion by 70%
28 Jun 2015 4:41 AM IST
“Export of all varieties of onions...will be subject to <g data-gr-id="34">a MEP</g> of $425 FOB (freight on board) per tonne,” Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.
The new MEP - rates below which no exports are allowed - will be applicable with immediate effect. The government imposes MEP to restrict outbound shipments and check price rise in the domestic market. The wholesale price of onion <g data-gr-id="36">have</g> risen to Rs 16-17 per Kg from Rs 11 per kg in last one month at Lasalgaon in Maharashtra -- Asia’s biggest onion market.
The wholesale prices have started increasing in view of marginal fall in the domestic production, which is estimated at 189.23 lakh tonnes for 2014-15 crop year (July-June), as against 194 lakh tonnes in the previous year, as per the government data. The country’s onion exports declined to 10.86 lakh tonnes in the 2014-15 fiscal due to high MEP, as against 13.58 lakh tonnes in the previous year.
Meanwhile, sowing area of pulses has increased by 80 <g data-gr-id="38">per cent</g> to 11.04 lakh hectares during this <g data-gr-id="37">kharif</g> season so far on better rains and higher support price announced by the government, but area under paddy lags behind. “Hike in the minimum support price (MSP) of pulses coupled with <g data-gr-id="44">rise</g> in retail prices seems to have enthused farmers to put more area under lentils,” Agriculture Secretary Siraj Hussain said.
<g data-gr-id="33">Sowing</g> of pulses to such an extent is of great significance. If domestic production rises then there will be no inflationary trends in prices, Hussain added. India produces about 17-19 million tonnes of pulses <g data-gr-id="39">annually,</g> but still has to import about 4 million tonnes to meet domestic demand.
According to the official data, pulses acreage has increased to 11.04 lakh hectares so far in <g data-gr-id="46">kharif</g> 2015 (summer sown crops) from 6.14 lakh hectares in the <g data-gr-id="47">year ago</g> period. The Centre recently announced a hike of up to Rs 275 per quintal in the MSP of the commodity. Besides pulses, the area under coverage for oilseeds, coarse cereals and cotton has also increased. Oilseeds acreage has jumped more than five-fold at 27.89 lakh hectares so far in <g data-gr-id="48">kharif</g> 2015 from 5.29 lakh hectares in the <g data-gr-id="49">year ago</g> period. Higher acreage of oilseeds augurs well as the country imports more than 11 million tonnes of vegetable oil annually.
Coarse cereals <g data-gr-id="40">sowing</g> stands at 19.28 lakh hectares and cotton at 34.87 lakh hectare. However, area under coverage of paddy, the major <g data-gr-id="41">kharif</g> crop, has declined to 23.28 lakh hectare from 25.04 lakh hectare in the <g data-gr-id="42">year ago</g> period. The Secretary further said there is no need for concern in <g data-gr-id="74">case</g> of paddy as sowing is yet to start in some major producing states.
90% rural families have PDS rice in TN, only 10% in West Bengal
Tamil Nadu tops the chart of states in terms of consumption of <g data-gr-id="106">public</g> distribution system (PDS) rice, with almost 9 out of 10 households in rural areas buy subsidised grain from ration shops. “The major states with relatively high incidence of PDS purchase of rice in the rural sector were Tamil Nadu (89 per cent households), Andhra Pradesh (87 per cent), Kerala (78 per cent) and Karnataka (75 per cent),” the report said. Even in cities, Tamil Nadu has the highest proportion of households consuming PDS rice at 67 per cent as per an NSSO report titled ‘PDS and Other Sources of Household Consumption, 2011-12’. Other states, after Tamil Nadu, which have higher proportion of urban households buying subsidised rice under the PDS scheme are Kerala (61 pe cent), Andhra Pradesh (45 per cent) and Chhattisgarh (42 per cent), the report added. It said the contribution of PDS purchases was also the highest in Tamil Nadu (rural: 53 per cent, urban: 43 per cent), followed by Karnataka (rural: 45 per cent, urban: 25 per cent), Chhattisgarh (rural: 38 per cent, urban: 30 per cent), Kerala (rural: 36 per cent, urban: 30 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh (rural: 33 per cent, urban: 22 per cent). For West Bengal, where rice is the main item of cereal consumption, the share of PDS purchases in consumption was lowest (rural: 10 per cent, urban: 6 <g data-gr-id="89">petr</g> cent). The PDS share in rice consumption in 2011-12 was about 27.9 per cent in villages and about 19.6 per cent in the urban sector. The share of PDS in wheat/atta consumption was about 17.3 per cent in villages and about 10.1 <g data-gr-id="90">per cent</g> in urban areas. PDS purchases accounted for 15.8 <g data-gr-id="91">per cent</g> of consumption of sugar in villages, and for 10.3 <g data-gr-id="92">per cent</g> in cities.
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