Pune Beat

Onion prices may drop slightly
With 15,000 metric tonnes of onions from Pakistan, Egypt and Iran expected to arrive in a week, the Pune market expects onion prices to drop marginally to Rs. 20 a kg within 10 days.

8220;We have sought 1,000 tonnes for Pune. We expect all of it to be sold out in an hour, as customers are sure to stock up for the month,8221; says Rajan Kachi, chief administrator, Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee. While the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India will import the onions at Rs 15 to Rs 17 a kg, it will be available in the market after adding up the shipment charges, said Kachi. Meanwhile, the onion shortage persists. Just eight trucks carrying about 80 tonnes arrived in the market today instead of the usual 100 trucks. Prices remained steady at Rs 30 a kilo in the cantonment market.

Onion prices have touched an all-time high after the heavy rain that lashed the district recently destroying 60 per cent of the crop. Of the two varieties of onions that come to the Pune market, farmers are exhausting the last stocks of the large and better quality older crop, while the new crop has been rendered almost useless by the rain.