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BATU PAHAT: Prices for onions from India, which most local consumers prefer to use in their cooking, have skyrocketed due to reduced imports following the monsoon disasters and floods in the republic.
Vice Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Rosol Wahid said consumers should seek alternatives by opting for onions from countries such as Thailand, Pakistan, China, the Netherlands, Myanmar and Indonesia.
Currently, he said that only Indian onion prices had risen dramatically, but supplies from other countries were adequate without price increases.
“However, I find that local consumers prefer onions from India over those imported from other countries,” he told reporters after visiting the Teo Seng Capital Berhad Egg Factory in Yong Peng, near here, today.
Rosol said consumers who prefer to use Indian onions should be patient for now and turn to onions from other countries first.
“The ministry will continue to seek new sources from other onion exporting countries to meet demand,” he said.
He said that the food supply was currently adequate and that authorized wholesalers could store 30% more than the normal quota set by the ministry for the monsoon season that had just started.
“It aims to ensure that people do not run out of food during the monsoon season and also due to the various movement control orders imposed in various parts of the country.”
