TO HELP ONION GROWERS

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22072, 21 April 1937, Page 10

TO HELP ONION GROWERS

0 GOVERNMENT PURCHASE ANNOUNCED CONSIDERABLE QUANTITY TO BE BOUGHT The announcement that the Government would buy Canterbury onions and store them in Christchurch was made yesterday by the South Island Onion Advisory Committee, set up under the recent price regulations. The quantity to be bought was not The Advisory Committee met yesterday, when there were present: Messrs R. B. Tennent, G. E. Royds, D. Goode, and J. J. Blackburn. After the meeting the chairman, Mr Tennent, made the following statement to the press:— “In view of the fact that some onion growers are experiencing difficulty in selling, the Government has decided to purchase immediately a considerable quantity of first-class quality onions which will be put into store at Christchurch. This action on the Government’s part should materially improve the position of the local onion market and will provide some measure of relief to those growers who so far have not effected sales. “Purchases will be confined to those growers who have forwarded returns as stipulated in the Onion Regulations, and the Advisory Committee will decide the basis upon which orders will be placed with the growers. Onions purchased will require to conform to the grades laid down in the regulations and only sound lines will be accepted. All purchases made will be at the present minimum prices. “Attention has been drawn to a published statement in the daily press that the minimum price for first grade onions has been increased to £5 15s a ton. So far no increased price has been gazetted and the price still remains at £5 5s a ton for first grade onions. The Advisory Committee has made certain recommendations to the Government in regard to future prices, but until such recommendations are agreed to and gazetted the present prices remain unaltered,” An advertisement regarding the purchase of onions by the Government appears in this issue.