The government on Tuesday restarted onion procurement at Rs 2,410 per quintal in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh for its buffer stock, to protect the interest of farmers amid export curbs imposed to arrest the rising retail prices of the key kitchen commodity ahead of festival season.

On August 19, the government imposed a 40 per cent export duty on onions to restrict outward shipments and boost local availability amid apprehension about the Kharif output.

Briefing media, the Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal said, while imposing export duty on onion, the government simultaneously decided to procure an additional 2 lakh tonnes of onion from farmers for the buffer stock.

"This was done to protect the interest of farmers. This will give better prices to the farmers," Goyal said.

Cooperatives National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Limited (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) are undertaking procurement in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

The procurement is happening at a fixed rate of Rs 2,410 per quintal, he said.

Last year too, when onion prices had fallen, the government had raised the procurement target for maintaining buffer stock to 3 lakh tonnes for 2023-24, from 2.5 lakh tonnes in the previous year in the interest of farmers, the minister added.

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