Journalism of Courage
The onion crunch in the city,that was expected to ease with the arrival of stock from Pakistan,is expected to continue. Of the 20 tonnes that reached the city markets on Monday,most of the stock was diverted to Tamil Nadu.
Traders in the city cited poor quality of the onions as the reason for poor response. Ankush Konde,in-charge of vegetable section,Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC),said: We received 180 quintals in Pune,which was to be released in the Pune market. But most of the onions were wet and of mediocre quality. So there were very few takers in the local markets. Traders from Tamil Nadu offered to buy them,so almost the entire stock went to them.
The Pakistan onions sold at Rs 35 at the wholesale market at Chhatrapati Shivaji Market Yard. Usually Tamil Nadu gets 50-60 per cent of its onions from Maharashtra.
Rajshekhar Patil,an onion trader at Market Yard,said most traders as well as customers had pinned their hopes on the Pakistan stock,but were dissatisfied with the quality. Even retailers didnt come forward to buy the onions because the wet outer skins lead to blackening and rapid rotting of the stock.
