While potato prices are soaring in the retail market in Saurashtra, onion prices too seem to be heading in the same direction as heavy rains in August has damaged the kharif crop and delayed harvest.
Onion prices have more than doubled over the past one month at Mahuva agriculture produce market committee (APMC), the biggest wholesale market of the bulbs in the state, as arrivals have remain more or less stable while fresh crop is yet to arrive.
The modal price of red onion in the Mahuva APMC in Bhavnagar was quoted Rs1,725 per 100 kgs on Monday. That was more than double as compared to Rs768 quoted in the same market on August 4. In fact, the highest quote on Monday was as high as Rs2160, data available with the Mahuva APMC shows.
In Rajkot district’s Gondal APMC, the other big wholesale market of onion in Saurashtra, arrivals on Monday were 5384 100 kgs and modal price was Rs1,305.
Indianexpress.com quoted Pravin Joshi, president of Mahuva APMC Commission Agents Association (MACAA), as saying: “Due to very heavy rain in August in Saurashtra, the kharif onion crop has been damaged and its arrival in the market has been delayed. Presently, only farmers who have holding capacity and stockists have onions and they are carting them to market in a staggered manner. As there is short-supply, just like potato prices, onion prices are also rising steadily.”
Arrivals of the red onion, which is consumed fresh, have remained in the range of Rs3,500 to 4,000 per 100 kgs per day in Mahuva APMC in recent weeks. “Usually, Kharif onion starts arriving by September and hit peak in October. But this year, the fresh harvest is yet to arrive in the market,” Joshi further said.
[ Rs100 = €1.10 ]