Centre lifts ban on export of Maharashtra’s onion, ban on Telangana’s rice stays
Just ahead of polling in key Maharashtra constituencies, where the Sharad Pawar-led NCP has a strong presence in the area known as the onion belt, the Centre is learned to have lifted a ban on onion exports on Saturday.
The Maharashtra onion is not only the source of onion at home but also abroad where any export decision impacts the price not only in Nasik, but also in the Gulf and North America and other parts of the world. Exports of both the Maharashtra onion and Telangana’s non-Basmati rice, which were in the top list of Indian agricultural exports, were banned by the Centre citing domestic consumption reasons.
On May 7, some key constituencies in Western Maharashtra go the polls, including areas where Sharad Pawar’s NCP is quite strong and are known for onion cultivation including Baramati, Raigad, Dharashiv (formerly Osmanabad), Latur, Solapur and Madha.
Owing to the export ban, falling onion prices and agrarian crisis is a key poll issue in the area where BJP and Shiv Sena (Shinde) leaders are facing farmers’ ire during the poll campaign.
Sharad Pawar had joined the farmers protesting the ban and Supriya Sule, the candidate from Baramati, has been raking up the issue in her election campaign.
The opposition in Maharashtra also questioned the logic behind allowing Gujarat cultivated onion to be exported while continuing the ban of Maharashtra onion.
“Once again, Maharashtra faces injustice from the BJP, only to benefit Gujarat. Why can’t both States be given equal treatment? Why is BJP so anti-Maharashtra?” Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray had said in a social media post citing the notification that enabled the export of white onions certified by the Gujarat Horticulture Commissioner.
In this backdrop, the Centre on Saturday issued notification permitting the export of onions with the minimum export price to $550 per ton.
Also, many in Telangana opine that though Telangana has abundant paddy crop yet the Centre banned export of the non-Basmati rice. Telangana is the top producer and also exporter of non-Basmati rice especially Masoori varieties to abroad namely Gulf and North America. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh account for about 50 percent of India’s export of non-Basmati rice and parboiled rice.
It’s noteworthy to mention that the KCR-led BRS government had turned Telangana into the rice bowl of the country and placed it on top in terms of export. However, the ongoing ban has hit the State’s farmers hard with no sign of the Centre lifting the ban.
This article has been republished from The Telangana Today.