Now Maharashtra onion farmers turn exporters as they tap Middle-East markets directly

“This opens new opportunities for us farmers – any given day, export markets ensure better returns for us,” said Eknath Sanap, a farmer from Naigaon village in Sinnar taluka.

For farmers like Sanap, who is also the director of the Goda Dharna Farmer Producers Company (FPC), access to export markets has been a distant dream given the logistics involved, and the new prospects would ensure farmers adopt better agricultural practices to develop superior quality onions.

The bulbs have to be in the size of 55 mm – 60 mm to be eligible for export and they fetch a better price. “Exports require a superior quality of produce as well as proper grading facility. This would help us in the long run,” he said. Grading refers to how the produce is separated as per size.

The access to export markets for Farmer Producing Companies in Naigaon was made possible through MahaFPC, which has been working in the domestic markets.

“10 FPCs in the districts of Nashik, Dharashiv, Ahilyangar, and Pune would participate in exports. This would be the first time we will be directly exporting,” said Yogesh Thorat, managing director of MahaFPC.

According to market experts, normally, traders, exporters, and commission agents procure onions from the wholesale markets and grade and sort them before the consignment is shipped to foreign markets from Mumbai.

Through its interference, MahaFPC aims to ensure that the value addition is done right at the farmers’ level to transform FPCs into exporters.

“The fewer the middlemen, the better for a farmer. We have created a 19,000-tonne storage facility across our chains, and now we are aiming to help them (FPCs) become export centers,” Thorat said.

The process aims to train farmers to develop the necessary skills to pack, sort, and grade goods for export markets. Given the value addition (sorting, grading, and special packing for export markets), that is done exporters charge better prices at the destination markets with the same being distributed at all levels.

Thorat said they have plans to extend this to vegetables and fruits. This season, along with onions, MahaFPC will be exporting 2,500 dozens of Devgad mangoes also to the Middle East markets, he added.

Indian onions have a steady market in the Middle East countries, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Bangladesh. However, Bangladesh has currently banned the entry of Indian onions till June.