Onion prices to remain high for 3 months

PUNE, Sept 20: Onion prices have brought tears to the eyes of buyers. The heavy rain that lashed the district recently have destroyed 60 ...

PUNE, Sept 20: Onion prices have brought tears to the eyes of buyers. The heavy rain that lashed the district recently have destroyed 60 per cent of the crop. The price of onions has touched an all-time high of Rs 30 a kg and is not expected to come down for the next three months.

Instead of the usual 100 trucks that reach the market everyday, only ten trucks are coming in, says Vilas Bhujbal, president, Wholesale Commission Agents Association. “Ten days of continuous rainfall early this month has destroyed the onion crop, causing a heavy shortage in the market,” adds Rajan Kachi, chief administrator, Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee.

With each truck carrying 10 tonnes of onion, this has led to a shortfall in the market. Of the two varieties of onions that come to the Pune market, garwa, the better crop, is larger in size, pink in colour, and with a lesser water content, is being bought by the city hotels causing a rise in its price to Rs 250 per 10 kg in the market.

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Farmers are supplying their stock of the garwa crop which is available from February to May. This too may become scarce, it is feared.

The other onion crop — halvi- that starts flooding the market from September to February, is smaller in size, red in colour and with a higher water content. The rain during Ganesh festival hit the crop badly leading to lesser stocks, explains Bhujbal. As a result, halvi is selling at Rs 140 to Rs 180 per 10 kg in the wholesale market and upto Rs 25 a kg in the vegetable markets.

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