Fresh harvest pulls down onion prices at major markets

PUNE: Holding on to the artificially-high onion prices has become tough for vested interests - trade as well as political - as the growing pressure of fresh harvest pulls down wholesale prices at all the growing markets including Lasalgaon and Pimpalgaon, the hub of India's onion economy.

Onions have remained the most expensive vegetable for the past four months as prices started appreciating from July.

A strong declining trend in onion prices has firmly been established in all parts of the country, with prices plunging by about 45% in just six days at Lasalgaon.





The maximum onion price at Lasalgaon decreased from Rs 55/kg on November 8 to Rs 32/kg on November 14. In most of the onion markets in Maharashtra including Pune, Solapur, Ahmednagar, Manmad, Malegaon, Lasalgaon, Pimpalgaon, prices have come down to Rs 30/kg. Nandkumar Daga, chairman, Lasalgaon Merchants' Association said, "All the onions from Lasalgaon is going to other states, especially North India as fresh onions are arriving in large quantities from everywhere in the state. The arrivals will keep increasing bringing prices down in next few days."

Prices have dropped to Rs 20/kg to 25/kg at many markets in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Fresh harvest is also expected to pick up in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan in the coming days.

The maximum wholesale prices of onions in Pune, Lasalgaon and other markets in Nashik in last week were above Rs 50/kg.

A few traders from Mumbai and Pune had placed orders for imported onions anticipating the prices to remain firm for another week.

However, prices started declining from Monday as most major APMCs are now getting more than 10,000 quintals of onions every day.

The old stock of onions is now over.

Ganesh Shedge, the Pune-based trader who had ordered 10 tonne of Egyptian onions from a Mumbai-based importer said, "We had placed an order for imported onions as onion prices in Pune last week was Rs 60/kg. We thought the imported onions will arrive in four to five days, but it took longer. Now the prices of local onions have started declining. The imported onions were of bad quality and the taste was also not liked."

According to sources in the industry, prices may even come crashing down by December end due to the arrival of fresh onions.