Hyderabad:, Sept. 9 -- Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday directed the state marketing authorities to ensure a remunerative price of Rs.1200 per quintal for onions, in the wake of reports of plummeting prices in the last few days.

Naidu, who held a review meeting with officials concerned at the state secretariat, directed that the prices of onions should not fall below Rs.1,200 per quintal.

"If farmers sell their onions to private traders below Rs.1,200 per quintal, the government will pay them the difference amount to compensate the loss," the chief minister announced, according to a government statement.

People familiar with the matter that there have been reports of severe distress among the onion cultivatin...