The government on decided to lift the nearly six-month-old ban on export of onions in a bid to protect the interests of farmers as prices are likely to fall sharply due to bumper rabi crop. Since the price of onion has stabilised and there is bumper onion crop, government has decided to lift ban on export of onions. Expected monthly harvest in March is over 40 lakh MT compared to 28.4 lakh MT last year.
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The GoM also deliberated on whether to reduce or scrap the Minimum Export Price (MEP) on onion to facilitate outbound shipments. In September 2019, the government banned onion exports and also imposed a MEP of $850 per tonne. The move came after prices had started skyrocketing due to supply-demand mismatch. In March alone, onion arrivals are expected to be as as high as 40.68 lakh tonne (Metric Tonne) when compared with 28.44 lakh tonne in the year-ago period, as per the sources.