The Centre has once again raised the price at which it will procure onions for its buffer stock, taking it to Rs 2,125 per quintal from Rs 1,875 per quintal, a 13% increase aimed at improving farmer realisations and stepping up procurement. The revised procurement price will be effective from Saturday, July 4, 2026.The latest revision comes as procurement under the Price Stabilisation Fund has remained sluggish this season. Despite government’s repeated increase in purchase prices since procurement began on June 1, only around 2,000 tonne of onions have been added to the 2026 buffer stock so far.The procurement rate has been revised upwards five times this season. It began at Rs 12.70 per kg before being increased to Rs 15.80 per kg on May 22, Rs 16.50 per kg on June 13, Rs 17.30 per kg on June 20, Rs 18.75 per kg thereafter and now Rs 21.25 per kg, or Rs 2,125 per quintal.Even as procurement gathers pace, the government said there is no immediate concern over onion availability in the domestic market. According to the consumer affairs ministry, stocks held in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat remain adequate, with no indication of shortages in stored onions.Wholesale arrivals have also remained steady, with mandis across the country receiving more than 50,000 tonne of onions every day. Maharashtra alone has been contributing over 30,000 tonne of daily arrivals, where the average modal price is around Rs 18 per kg. The all-India average retail price currently stands at Rs 31 per kg.The ministry said better-quality onions continue to remain in storage and are expected to be released during the lean season. While delayed monsoon rains and below-normal rainfall in some regions have encouraged speculative buying by a section of traders, it noted that actual demand in key consuming centres continues to remain subdued at current prices.Such speculative activity has been particularly visible in production centres such as Nashik and parts of Madhya Pradesh, where trading has been driven more by expectations of a price recovery than by market demand.Meanwhile, onion production for 2025-26 is estimated at 307.37 lakh tonne, according to the Second Advance Estimates of the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, almost unchanged from the previous year’s output of 307.67 lakh tonne.Exports also remained stable during June, with around 1.50 lakh tonne shipped overseas. However, traders expect export demand to soften in the coming weeks as fresh onion supplies from Pakistan and China are being offered at lower prices in markets such as the Gulf, Sri Lanka and the Far East.On the sowing front, kharif onion planting has been delayed by around 15 days in Maharashtra’s Nashik region. In Karnataka, sowing in the Chitradurga and Challakere belt has progressed to nearly 60% of the normal level.
