Onion prices to be dearer for a month Nashik Nov 2: Notwithstanding the ban on onion exports imposed by the Central Government, the commodity is likely to be dearer for the consumers at least for a month, as the stocks of the old rabi crop (harvested during April-May) have depleted and the new kharif crop is yet to arrive in the markets due to adverse weather.The Central Government has stopped issuing NOCs to exporters from November 1 to prevent upward trend in prices in the domestic markets. However, the ban has come at a time when there is hardly any summer crop left for exports.The wholesale prices now range between Rs 600 and Rs 700 per quintal. The current upward trend in the prices is likely to continue in the near future as the new crop is expected to arrive at least a month later.Further, agricultural officials have predicted a shortfall of about 30 per cent in the kharif harvest owing to the three-week long dry spell and erratic rainfall. Market sources point out that with or without the ban, the prices of onions are likely to increase and stabilise around Rs 1,000 per quintal till February. Only a good rabi (summer) crop could save the situation. Ironically, the plea of Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh to the Central Government to increase the export quota of onions for Maharashtra has come at a time when it is least required.There are not enough onions left in the markets for exports. The same Deshmukh Government had bought onions at higher than the market prices earlier this year to provide relief to farmers, who were agitating for remunerative prices in wake of a bumper (summer) crop. According to market sources, only about 50,000 quintals of the summer crop is available in Maharashtra and that the ban would have no effect on the domestic prices. The shortfall of about 30 per cent in the production of the forthcoming Kharif crop is likely to hit the consumers in the near future. It may be recalled that during 1998, adverse weather conditions had led to the failure of the Kharif crop leading to skyrocketing of prices to an all time high of up to Rs 4,000 per quintal. The Central Government had then imposed a ban on the export of onions and since then has been relaxing the ban intermittently allocating export quotas for onion growing states.However, last year a bumper onion crop had led to a downfall in prices to up to Rs 200 per quintal. As farmers agitated for remunerative prices, the Maharashtra Government through the Maharashtra State Cooperative Marketing Federation, had procured onions at higher than the market prices. While prices were around Rs 200 per quintal, the government bought the same crop for Rs 300 and Rs 350 per quintal, suffering losses to the tune of Rs 100 crore in the process.Of the procured onions, the Government could neither distribute the commodity on the public distribution system (as onions were available at a much cheaper price in the open market) nor export it as onions from Pakistan and China had flooded the Gulf markets.Consequenlty, the government had to dump more than 1.5 lakh quintals of the crop as it decayed at various procurement centres.
