Govt to make 1 lakh tons of onion buffer stock in 2020

News Network
December 30, 2019

New Delhi, Dec 30: To prevent the repeat of this year's onion crisis, the Centre has decided to create a buffer stock of 1 lakh tonnes of the key kitchen staple in 2020, a senior government official said on Monday.

The government had created a buffer stock of 56,000 tonnes for the current year but it was not sufficient to contain the prices which are still ruling above Rs 100 per kg in most cities across the country. As a result, the government was compelled to import through state-run MMTC.

"The issue was discussed in detail in the recent meeting of the group of ministers (GoM), headed by Home Minister Amit Shah. It was decided that higher buffer stock of about 1 lakh tonne will be created for next year," the official told PTI.

Cooperative Nafed, which had maintained the buffer stock of onion on behalf of the government, will continue to do so next year. It will source the rabi (winter) onion crop -- which has higher shelf life -- between March and July directly from farmers, the official added.

This year, onion prices fell sharply due to 26 per cent fall in kharif and late kharif (summer) production due to late monsoon and later untimely rains in key growing states especially Maharasthra and Karnataka.

To check rising prices, the government took several measures to boost the domestic availability including ban on exports, stock limits on traders besides sale of onion at subsidised rates from its buffer stock and imports.

Already, the government has exhausted its buffer stock of onion which was disposed at a subsidised rate in the local market. Now, it is selling imported ones.

MMTC, which is importing on behalf of the government, has contracted about 45,000 tonnes of onion from Turkey, Afghanistan and Egypt. The shipments are underway.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 30,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 30: Kerala reported 32

fresh cases of coronavirus on Monday, with the worst affected Kasaragod district alone accounting for 17 cases.

Kannur reported 15 cases, while Wayanad and Idukki reported two each, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters here after a COVID-19 review meeting.

Of the 32 cases, 17 had come from abroad and 15 had been infected through contact.

A total of 213 people are presently under treatment in Kerala.

At least 1.50 lakh people are under surveillance in the state and 623 are in isolation wards of various hospitals.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 10,2020

Kochi, Apr 10: Kerala government is winning accolades for saving the life of eight foreigners including a very serious UK citizen who had been undergoing critical care for COVID-19 at a hospital here.

All the persons have been completely cured with the declaration of the test result of four persons. The persons, Roberto Tonozo (57) of Italy, Lanson (76) of UK, Elizabeth Lance (76), Brial Neil (57), Janet Layi (83), Steeven Hankok (61), Annie Wilson (61) and Jan Jackson (63) were completely cured and preparing to go for their countries, an official statement said on Thursday.

The last four persons who were cured expressed their desire to undergo treatment at a private hospital here.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
March 6,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 6: A 12-member team from Telangana on Friday visited Kerala to study how the state contained the spread of novel coronavirus.

Interacting with the team, Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja said, "The team will be given a presentation at National Health Mission and they will visit Alappuzha district to know how the health facilities are set up by Kerala Health Department on the grassroots level."

"The team comprising doctors and senior health officials will visit the control room set up by the Health Department and also will attend daily review meetings. They will also visit an isolation ward in the hospital and interact with doctors and nurses, " the minister said.

She added, "Kerala model is being followed by other states too. All states are working together and the country as a whole is fighting the coronavirus. They are sharing our experience. All of India is standing together. Contact tracing and isolation is the most important part."

Dr Mahaboob Khan, part of the Telangana team told media persons, that the discussion with the health minister was fruitful.

"Kerala was the first state in India where a positive coronavirus case was reported. All three positive cases reported have been discharged after testing negative. So we wanted to study how Kerala was able to contain it and the health system in place here, " he said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.