India, May 26 -- The Centre on Monday increased the minimum assured procurement price (MAPP) of onion from Rs.1,235 per quintal to Rs.1,580 per quintal for farmers in Nashik district. The notification issued by the department of consumer affairs (DoCA) came a day before the Maha Vikas Aghadi's (MVA's) planned agitation at Chandwad in Nashik district over the distress faced by onion growers due to low wholesale prices at various mandis including Lasalgaon, the country's largest onion market.

Earlier, the union government had directed the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers' Federation (NCCF) to procure two lakh quintals of onion from farmers at Rs.1,235 per quintal. Th...