Sixth Hike This Season: Onion Buffer Stock Price Raised to ₹2,335/Quintal, But Small Farmers Left Out

The Central government revised its onion buffer stock procurement price to ₹2,335 per quintal on July 30 — the sixth upward revision in the current season. The previous price stood at ₹2,175 per quintal. Procurement has been entrusted to two cooperative agencies, NAFED and the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation (NCCF), with a combined target of two lakh tonnes for the 2026-27 buffer.

Critically, the price hike comes alongside a withdrawal of quality relaxations that had been in place earlier. Government agencies will now purchase only A-grade onions, raising the bar for which supplies qualify for the scheme. In Nashik district — India's onion heartland — NAFED is operating through 30 procurement centres while NCCF runs 27, with agencies collecting produce through appointed intermediary organisations rather than directly at market yards.

Despite six price increases, procurement remains well below the season's ambition. As of the latest available data, NAFED and NCCF have collectively procured slightly more than one lakh tonnes against their two-lakh-tonne target — putting the agencies at roughly half their goal for 2026-27.

At Lasalgaon APMC, one of the country's largest onion markets, farmers are currently bringing 25,000 to 30,000 quintals of onions to the yard every day, according to APMC Secretary Narendra Wadhavane. The average open-market price at the yard currently ranges between ₹2,100 and ₹2,200 per quintal — close to the government's new procurement rate — while premium A-grade onions are fetching as much as ₹3,600 per quintal in the open market, well above what the buffer scheme offers.

Bharat Dighole, founder-president of the Maharashtra Onion Farmers' Association, is categorical that the successive price hikes offer little practical relief to small growers. Speaking to Rural Voice, he argued that small farmers, lacking storage infrastructure, are compelled to offload their produce at depressed prices early in the season. By the time procurement prices rise, their stock is long sold.

"The increase in the procurement price will benefit farmers who are already financially better off and have the capacity to store onions for several months," Dighole told Rural Voice.

He went further, alleging that those currently selling to government centres include large, financially stronger farmers and so-called 'paper farmers' — individuals who have registered as farmers on paper but actually purchase produce from small growers, store it, and sell it later at higher prices. Dighole claimed there would not be even 50 genuine producing farmers in any village of Nashik district currently selling onions they themselves grew.

Dighole's broader prescription is a structural one: the government should announce its buffer procurement price at the beginning of the season, linked to the actual cost of production. He argued the floor should be set at a minimum of ₹3,000 per quintal — well above the current ₹2,335 — to provide meaningful income assurance to cultivators from the moment they bring produce to market.

The current practice of incremental mid-season revisions, he contends, systematically advantages those with holding capacity while leaving small and marginal farmers with no real price support. The withdrawal of quality relaxations further tightens the scheme's reach, as only those with storage access can typically ensure their onions retain A-grade characteristics over the months between harvest and sale.