The government’s move to curb rising onion prices through exports ban and imports from Pakistan seems to have little impact on retail prices in the country.
With the rise in demand for onions in southern Indian because of Makarsankranti and Pongal festivals, prices are expected to be high in the next two weeks as demand is projected to rise, but supplies are low because of damage to kharif crops in many key growing areas. On Monday, agency reports said that India’s onion production might drop by 12.5% this year because of damage to standing crop.
According to a trader from Lasalgaon, in Nashik, which is the hub of country’s onion trade, wholesale price of onion on Monday was around Rs 3,500 per quintal which is expected to remain at same level during the next few weeks as supplies are not sufficient.
Retail prices of onions have been more than Rs 50 per kg across all key metros. According to department of consumer affairs data, retail prices of onion in Delhi and Mumbai on Monday were Rs 52 and Rs 53 per kg, respectively, while onion was selling at Rs 60 per kg at Thiruvananathapuram. Only in Hyderabad, the retail price was Rs 36 a kg.
?Supplies are expected to increase only after middle of January when the late kharif crop starts entering the market from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka,? C B Holkar, Managing Director, the National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF) told FE.
Meanwhile, NHDRF in its crop prospect report has said that seed sowing for nursery in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa and other rabi onion-growing states of the country has been completed.
?The area is expected to be more in different states during the rabi season except in Maharashtra and Gujarat in comparison to the last year,? NHDRF has said.
Onion prices started rising from third week of December. Prices went up to as high as Rs 80 per kg in many cities but came down marginally after a week.
Meanwhile, the first consignment of onion imported from Pakistan is expected to arrive only by end of this week. The government had contracted PEC and State Trading Corporation to import around 1,000 tonne of onion from Pakistan for increasing supplies in northern and western markets. The landed cost of Pakistani onion is expected to be around Rs 30 per kg.
Over 200 tonne of onion imported from Pakistan, which is lying at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, is likely to be cleared on Monday. by this evening. The consignment is currently going through extensive scanning process besides plant quarantine clearance to detect bacteria or virus. The government has taken several measures to rein in prices of the key agricultural commodity. These included ban on exports and abolition of import duty. India produced around 12 million tonne of onion, this fiscal it has already exported about 1.1 million tonne.