ROURKELA: The price of onion has touched a record high of Rs 120 per kg in the Steel City.
The city and the rest of Sundargarh district is dependent on supply of the bulb from Nashik in Maharashtra. Even as the district is self-sufficient in vegetable production, despite its huge potential, onion cultivation has never been the focus of the Agriculture department.
Nirakar Sahu, a retailer of Traffic Gate market he has never seen the price of onion go up to Rs 120 per kg. The price of the bulb has also affected its sale. Nirakar said with most consumers staying away from onion, its sale has come down to 30 per cent. For a bag of 50 kg, he has to invest Rs 5,500-Rs 6,000 and this also entails a loss of Rs 800-Rs 1,000 with average damage of 8-10 kgs in a bag. He said earlier when price of onion was Rs 20 per kg, the loss used to be Rs 200 for a bag of 50 kg. In a few retail outlets in the city, onion is being sold for `140 per kg.
Sundargarh Civil Supplies Officer (CSO) BC Mangraj attributed the grim scenario to high wholesale cost at the source point Nashik due to inadequate supply. He said the administration is selling onion for `95 per kg through 20 fair price shops across the city. After arrival of fresh stocks the price may either go up or come down.
Onion is priced at `100 per kg at Sundargarh. Agriculture department sources said in the Kharif crop season, different vegetables were grown over 21,282 hectares land while onion was grown on around 2,000 hectare.Sundargarh Deputy Director of Horticulture Sarveswar Bagudai said unlike Balangir district, Sundargarh does not have enough onion storage facilities. He said the Government provides `72,000 subsidy on bamboo storage structures for onion. Interestingly, soil and climatic condition of Sundargarh is most suitable for onion farming.
Price shoots up to `140 in Silk City
Berhampur: The price of onion has touched a whopping `140 per kg in Silk City. Traders of Bada Bazaar said the price will remain unchanged till fresh stock is received from Maharashtra. They said the price rise is a result of low supply. On Thursday, around 27 tonne onion was received at the wholesale market from Maharashtra. The stock got exhausted within a couple of hours. Last fortnight, onion from Andhra Pradesh was available in the market for `100 per kg. The Andhra onion is cheaper owing to its low shelf life. However, its price too has shot up to `130 per kg.
Bulb burden
While Sundargarh district is self-sufficient in vegetable production, despite its huge potentional, onion cultivation has never been the focus of Agriculture department
Onion is grown on only 2,000 hectare land in kharif season
The district does not have enough storage facilities
Soil and climate of Sundargarh most suitable for onion farming