PUNE: Onion exporters see shipments increasing by about 15per cent from a year ago with prices turning competitive in the international market on the back of a government incentive scheme and potential of good domestic production. After the government extended the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) to onion growers, the freight-on-board (FOB) price of the Indian variety declined to $195/tonne (from $220 per tonne earlier), giving competition to the produce from China, where a good crop is seeing producers take advantage of high prices in neighbouring nations. “MEIS has made Indian onion prices competitive with that of China, thus increasing India’s export volumes in markets of far eastern countries,” said Ajit Shah, president, Onion Exporters’ Association. MEIS has been extended to onion growers from July 13, 2018 up to January 2019. Shah also said the area and condition of the kharif crop has been reported to be overall normal across the country.

“Arrival of kharif onion from Karnataka has started early.

A bigger crop from Hubli region will begin in 20 days,” he said.

“We can expect 2018-19 onion exports to increase by more than 15per cent over the previous year.” Meanwhile, the sustained pace of exports has kept domestic prices stable even during the monsoon season.

The average price in the wholesale markets of Maharashtra is now around Rupee10/kg.

However, traders say prices should increase a bit now so as to compensate for the loss in storage increase, as the carrying period has been growing.