Collector reviews onion situation in Nashik district

NASHIK: Bhuvaneshwari S, in-charge collector of Nashik, on Wednesday reviewed the situation of onions in the district with respect to production, hoarding, arrival of stock and expected arrival of the new stock.
The collector also convened a meeting of heads of department of agriculture marketing, supply office and agriculture department to understand the current scenario.
“The meeting was held at 4 pm at the district collectorate where the collector sought details of demand and supply situation in the backdrop of rising price of onions that have crossed the Rs 11,000-mark for every quintal,” a senior official from the district administration said.
The collector with the help of agriculture and the revenue officials took stock of onions damaged due to unseasonal rainfall along with the current demand-supply gap that was leading to price hike.
Nashik district has Asia’s largest onion market at Lasalgaon in Niphad taluka and around 80% of the onion crop here has been damaged due to rain.
“The kharif crop was damaged and the late kharif crop also failed to compensate the damage. The supply of summer variety of the crop also receded owing to which prices began to rise,” the official said.
The collector also took stock of rabi cultivation of onions, its expected time of arrival in the market and the amount of the area under cultivation.
She also expressed the need to be vigilant against hoarders and asked the officials to ensure that strict action was taken against all those who were engaged in hoarding.
“The collector asked the officials to conduct inspections and also sought the details of the arrival of the crop on daily basis, the variation noted and the rise in the price index,” the official added.