Maharashtra: Dip in kharif acreage likely to bring up onion prices again

Onion prices have sky rocketed across the country right at the start of the election season in Maharashtra and Haryana. A dip in the rabi production in Maharashtra and other parts of the country, especially Karnataka, has resulted in the price rise, which had seen the central government taking a slew of measures. Post increase of the Minimum Export Price (MEP), and bringing about a stock limit for the bulb for both retail and wholesale traders — the government had also banned exports of onion. All these measures were taken to check the price rise in the wholesale markets.

At Lasalagon’s wholesale market, average traded price of the onion, which had peaked at Rs 4,700 per quintal, has come down by around Rs 2,000 per quintal. This has caused much resentment among farmers, who are quick to point out how they were plagued by low prices over the last year or so.

The ban on exports had seen over 200 trucks carrying onions to Bangladesh being held up at the border. Dr Bharti Pawar, BJP MP from Dindori in Nashik, had issued a press statement saying the trucks were released after the intervention of Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.

Onion prices might be down, but market sources do not rule out a further price rise in the days to come. Besides the delayed monsoon, in parts of Nashik, the transplanted crop was lost due to heavy rain that lashed the area in the past two months. These two factors, sources said, would result in another shortage in the day to come. At present, majority of the onions that are coming in the market are the stored rabi crop.