Overview
- The Maharashtra State Onion Growers Farmers Association formally demanded a special ₹10,000 crore revival package on Sunday, asking for immediate direct payments into farmers' bank accounts to offset sustained losses.
- The growers blame repeated past export controls, a 40% export duty, fixed minimum export prices and ad hoc buffer-stock releases by NAFED and NCCF for creating price volatility that depressed farm incomes.
- The association says weather shocks, unseasonal rains, hail, spurious seeds, crop disease and storage losses cut yields and quality so badly that many who stored 2025 bulbs sold at very low prices in 2026.
- Their policy package calls for stable long-term export rules, an Onion Export Promotion Fund, a National Onion Stabilisation Fund, subsidies for certified seeds, 100% support for storage sheds and incentives for local processing and FPO-led direct sales.
- Coverage shows growers pressing for quick relief and structural change while there is no reported response or commitment from the central government so far, a development that could shape procurement and export policy debates ahead.