Onion prices have started touching the sky. After suffering from record-high tomato prices, now the public has to brace itself to deal with a surge in onion prices in the country. In the last two weeks itself, the average wholesale price of onions in the crucial Lasalgaon APMC in Maharashtra has surged 60 per cent, data from the Department of Consumer Affairs revealed.
This surge has been credited to a lack of supply of onions in the market. The price rise is expected to continue till December as the fresh stock of the crop should reach the markets by year-end. The supply of onions has been impacted by the deficit monsoon in the year as well. In certain regions, lack of rainfall affected onion production by nearly 10 per cent.
The rise in prices has not been sudden. Earlier in August, when the government imposed 40 per cent duty on the export of onions, prices were already moving in an upward trajectory due to the delayed and reduced sowing of the kharif crop. The government also took to procuring onions in the wholesale markets at a fixed price below the market level to keep control of the surge in onion prices.
In the last month, the average wholesale price of onion has increased by 26 per cent. The average retail price of the crop has surged 22 per cent in the last 30 days. On October 26, 2023, onion prices touched as high as Rs 70 per kilogram in certain parts of the country. The same crop a month back was being sold in the market at Rs 33 per kg.
Nandkumar Shirke, Chairman, of the Association of Onion Traders, in Ahmednagar district, noted, “The average price of onions in Ahmednagar market has increased from about Rs 35/kg about around 10 days ago to Rs 45/kg now,” as reported by the Economic Times. He stated that the supply of stored onions has also declined by 40 per cent during the last two weeks, “from around 400 vehicles per day of 10 tonnes capacity each to around 250 vehicles.”
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