Speaking at a civic reception here, Deshmukh said that the Maharashtra government had also urged the Centre to delete onions from the list of essential commodities and allow exports without any quota system.

Deshmukh further said that the State Government would, in association with NAFED and the State Cooperative Marketing Federation, take adequate steps to prevent losses to onion growers. Deshmukh was speaking in connection with a memorandum submitted by local Congress leaders, urging the government to take steps to prevent losses to onion farmers in view of the declining prices in the wholesale markets and the anticipation of a bumper crop.

The wholesale prices of onions have nose-dived from Rs 400 per quintal to about Rs 250 per quintal over the past week. The new Kharif crop is expected to flood the marketswithin a month and farmers are apprehensive that it would cause a glut, pushing down prices to below Rs 100 per quintal.

The onion issue is hotting up with farmers boycotting auctions to demand a fair price and traders demanding the lifting of the onion export ban. A series of agitations have also been planned in the onion growing belt of Nashik from December 1.