Onion prices ranged from Rs 80-120 per kg in retail markets in different cities, upsetting household grocery budgets which are suffering from a squeeze due to rising vegetable prices in the last month.
The high price is expected until mid-November, when the new crop of onions from parts of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are expected to hit the markets.
There is a shortage of onions, as crops have been damaged by excessive rains in October in parts of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
In Lasalgaon, Asia’s largest onion market, onion prices soared to Rs 7,050 per quintal on Thursday from Rs 4,801 per quintal a month ago.
Narendra Wadhavane, secretary of the Agricultural Products Marketing Committee (APMC), Lasalga, said there is a tremendous shortage of onions due to the devastation caused by the rains.
“We barely have 4,000 quintals of stock on the market today compared to the normal 12,000 to 15,000 quintals in normal times,” Wadhavane said, adding that a tenth of trucks are bringing products to market compared to normal times.
On Thursday, the onion was selling for Rs 120 per kilogram in Chandigarh. “There is very short storage of onions coming from Maharashtra,” said a vegetable trader, Rashwinder Singh, at the Chandigarh wholesale fruit and vegetable market.
In the industrial city of Ludhiana, onion has disappeared from the daily menu of many families, as prices reached 100 rupees per kilogram and the average price in the last two months was 50 rupees.
“We are not getting the necessary supply from Nashik. The harvest from Rajasthan will take another month to arrive. Until then, prices will remain high, ”said Gurkamal Singh, president of the Arhtiya Association in Ludhiana district.
In Lucknow, the retail price of onion was Rs 80 per kilo, double the rate a fortnight ago. “Fifteen days earlier, mandi onion prices were between Rs 30 to Rs 33,” Sabir (who goes by his first name) said, saying that as prices have risen, there are not enough buyers either.
Meera Yadav (54) explains the reason why Sabir has no buyers.
“The onion is sold at 80 rupees per kg. The potato costs 60 kg. Tomato at Rs 60 kg and squash is sold at Rs 40 per kg. For a middle class family like us, who have limited income, we have no choice but to reduce the purchase of these vegetables and cut education to manage the household budget, “he said.
Bhopal-based Ankur Tandon, a resident of Sarabha Nagar, who works with a private marketing company, said his entire monthly budget has gone haywire. “We already managed with difficulty because my wife, who worked as a nursery teacher, lost her job during the confinement and I suffered a salary cut. The increase in onion prices has upset the entire budget, ”he said.
In Mumbai, a kilogram of onions was selling for 100 on Thursday. Khushi Gupta, who lives in Lokhandwala, Andheri, said that the rise in prices has come as a double whammy for her.
“Now we are reducing the use of onions because we have already suffered due to the blockade. I have not had a job in the last seven months and this has only made things worse, ”he said.
Hemlata Joshi, a housekeeper at Jeolikote in Nainital in Uttarakhand, said: “We have almost stopped using onions in our dishes due to the high prices. The state government should do something to control the rate of vegetables like potatoes and onions in the mountainous areas. “
However, residents believe that providers are making huge profits. Sandeep Bhalla, secretary of the Federation of Chandigarh Sector Welfare Associations (FOSWAC), said that as the sector’s weekly mandis are closed, vendors are taking advantage and charging higher rates than those approved by the local administration. “People have no choice but to cut back,” he said.
Hotels and restaurants have stopped giving onions in salad or have increased the prices of dishes. Chandar Prakash Khanduri, owner of dhaba at Library Bazaar in Haldwani, said: “We have been left with no choice but to increase the prices of vegetables that have onion as one of the ingredients.”
Rajasthan, where the onion supply is likely to start in mid-November, has good news. President Muhana Mandi in Jaipur, Rahul Tanwar, said the onions from Sikar and elsewhere would arrive in mid-November. “The harvest is good and it can stop the increase in onion prices,” he said.
.
