According to agriculture ministry data, onion arrivals in November were 2.28 lakh tonnes in Maharashtra compared with 1.56 lakh tonnes in October. So far, an estimated 52,000 tonnes of onion has arrived in the mandi in December, signalling a higher inflow.
Onion prices in India have fallen by nearly 75 percent since peaking on October 20 this year on higher supplies, leading to farmers holding back produce and demanding that a ban on exports be lifted.
“Onion prices have dropped to levels of Rs 20 a kg now that arrivals have increased over the last two days,” said Suvarna Jagtap, Chairman, Lasalgaon Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) in Maharashtra’s Nashik district.
Arrivals at Lasalgoan APMC have dropped from about 12,000 tonnes on November 27 to 5,700 tonnes on December 5. When prices peaked on October 20, with the kitchen staple selling at Rs 100 at retail outlets in some parts of the country, arrivals at the APMC were 5,438 tonnes reports www.moneycontrol.com
“The Unhal variety onion arrival is 4,054 tonnes now against 5,438 tonnes when prices surged,” Jagtap said, adding, “farmers are holding back their produce in view of the sharp fall in prices”.
Jagtap has written to the Union ministries of commerce and agriculture and also to shipping minister Nitin Gadkari to lift the ban imposed on exports on September 15.