Even though vegetable prices, including that of potatoes and onion have risen sharply in the last one month, there is little possibility of any further upswing as the country has adequate stocks of both the basic food items, traders and officials said.
They said the spurt in prices seen last month was largely due to poor supplies on account of deficient monsoon.
While kharif onion sowing has been delayed because of less than the normal rains in Maharashtra, which produces around 40% of the country?s production, since last one month, adequate stocks in the state and good rains in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka is expected to fill the shortfall in output.
While Maharashtra has a million tonne of onion stocks because of bumper rabi crop, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are expected to produce about 4 lakh tonne this season thanks to adequate rainfall in the southern states of the country.
?There is no cause of panic and onion prices are expected to be stable over the next six months,? C B Holkar, vice-chairman, Nafed told FE.
Wholesale onion price in Nasik, the country?s main trading hub, is in the range of Rs 600?Rs 700 per quintal while the retail price in Delhi is around Rs 14?Rs 16 per kg, traders said.
According to the National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF) report, more than 50% of the rabi onion produce has been stored in all parts of the country for meeting the off-season demand during June to October. About 2.5 million tonne of onion is stored at present across the country while production last year was a record 7.7 million tonne.
?Overall it is to mention that stored stock of onion in the country will be sufficient for domestic as well as export requirement during the lean period – July to October,? NHRDF said. The exports this year would be around 1.1 million tonne against a record 1.7 million tonne achieved last year.
Although a portion of potato crop has been hit in West Bengal due to late blight, substantial stocks in UP and other states would meet the demand till January, when the new crop would enter the market. According to Agmark, the whole price of potato in Delhi is Rs 1,140 per quintal while the retail price is in the range of Rs 14-Rs 17 per kg.
In UP, this year around 7.2 million tonne of potato is stored in cold stores. In Punjab from total output of 1.4 million tonne about 40% is being stored for seed production and 25% for consumption.