Onions have, over the years, acquired a fearsome reputation as not only being the barometer of power politics but also as an indicator of just how bad things are as far as food inflation goes. Every few years, prices of onions go up irrationally, and doomsday theorists cry the death knell for the government of the day. The onion is, after all, the poor man?s condiment of choice and convenience, and if he cannot have it with his dry chapati, what use is any government?

The recent reported spike in vegetable prices has again focused specifically on onions, and with the UPA government shaky after a spate of corruption scandals, this was the last layer of skin off the government?s veneer of competence.

A closer look at the competitive prices of vegetables in the November-December period this year and in the same period last year, however, will show that onion prices are, in fact, not the main drivers of this spike in prices. That distinction apparently belongs to brinjal. In fact, onion prices showed more of a spike between mid-November and December 2009 (around 30%) than this year for the same period (around 14%). Brinjal, on the other hand, was down 8% last year and showed an astounding 66% spike this year. Therefore, onion?s contribution to the total increase in food prices is 27%, compared to brinjal?s at 51%, potato?s at 11%, cauliflower?s at 6% and tomato, the other bogey being raised, shows a negative growth at -9% (figures of mandi prices in various states got from the Planning Commission).

What?s more astounding is that there is a huge variation in the prices of brinjal across the country. In states like Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, where it forms an important part of the cuisine, it is priced at Rs 25 to Rs 35 per kg at wholesale rates. While in states like Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and even Delhi, it varies between Rs 8 and Rs 16 per kg. So, specifically then, high demand areas are driving prices high. The cause for this spike in prices cannot be attributed to the vagaries of the weather alone.

There are always good years and bad years in agriculture. What this points to is the real need for overhauling the system through which fruits and vegetables in the country are moved, stored and traded. While the National Horticulture Mission has done a good job in the areas of increasing yield and quality of fruits and vegetables, what has not been done is the setting up of a system of procurement, transport and storage. Trade in fruits and vegetables are still in the hands of middlemen, and goods are moved through traditional channels, speculation and seasonal and regional demands varying prices throughout.

A cold storage chain would eliminate some seasonal variations in yield, while a fixed procurement by organised modern retail outlets will not only provide security of business to storage owners but also keep prices down and ensure fair remuneration to farmers. The spectre of rotting vegetables in one part of the country while another pays for the same in gold equivalents could well become a thing of the past.

Organised modern retail will be catalytic to a more stable price regime. For those afraid that this would mean the entry of big foreign retailers like Walmart, there are enough domestic players who can fill the breach, without the bogey of foreign players taking over Indian farms and invading Indian kitchens being raised.

Of course, what it would do is eliminate the periodic fun of relating the fall of governments to the price of onions. But, as they say about politics, if isn?t onions, something else will drive you to tears.

?nistula.hebbar@expressindia.com