Nafed has stated it has procured 25,000 tons of onion so far from farmer producer organisations (FPOs), cooperatives and direct purchase centres at the prevailing rates for creating a buffer stock on behalf of the government.

Last year, the Nafed had purchased a total of 57,000 tons of onion from the 2018-19 rabi (winter) crop. The target this time is to buy 100,000 tons of key kitchen staple from the major producing states, it said.

"This initiative will have dual benefit of stabilising the domestic prices of onion in the COVID-19 time as well and create an all-time high buffer stocking of 1 lakh ton which may be utilised for the lean months," National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) said in a statement.

It has already purchased 25,000 tons at the prevailing rates. onion is being purchased from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat from FPOs, cooperatives as well as direct purchase centres.

Currently, the onion prices for fair average quality are ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,400 per 100 kgs, depending on the location. The retail prices in major cities at present are ruling in the range of Rs 20 to Rs 30 per kg.