Mumbai: Poor supply of onion pushes prices high

Onion, which is one of the key ingredients used in kitchens across houses, is adversely affecting the household budget of commoners as its price has now crossed Rs 30 per kg. The retail price of onion has doubled in the last one fortnight. Premium quality onion is being sold over Rs 40 per kg.

The reason is seen as short supply in the wholesale market and even traders claim that price will go up in days come up.

The administration in Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Vashi informed that arrival of the commodity has dropped by around 30% in the last one week. "The supply of onion is fluctuating, and that is affecting its daily price," said an official from the APMC. He added that supply has dropped to just 6,000 quintals last week.

"There was a poor cultivation of onion in growing states like Maharashtra, Karnakata and Uttar Pradesh," said Viren Shah, a trader at APMC. Apart from these three states, Gujarat, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Punjab and Rajasthan are the major onion-producing states.

For quite some time, adequate supply of onion had brought down the prices and it was sold even at Rs 10 per kg till September end. For the last one week, APMC has been receiving around 60 to 70 trucks laden with onions.

"Around 1,200 tonnes of onions are required to meet the daily need. However, in the last fortnight, the supply has been only around 600 to 900 tonnes," said an official from APMC market, requesting anonymity.

"Onion is a three-month crop. If it was planted in June, then by August-end or by September we get abundant supply. However, due to scanty rain many areas of the state, a farmer could not plant," said another trader. Now, we can fresh crop that was planted during July and August.