VIJAYAWADA: Agriculture marketing department officials are contemplating procuring the onion crop yield being cultivated in around 250 to 300 acres of Penumaka in Guntur district to meet the demand in Vijayawada. Speaking to TNIE, Swaraj Maidan Rythu Bazaar Estate Officer M Bali Chakravarthy said Penumaka farmers are in the process of harvesting onions cultivated across a huge area.
These onions are likely to be available at Rs 80 to 85 per kg.
On the basis of crop yield and quality, the agriculture marketing department will then procure the stocks. At present, the city has been purchasing onions from Maharashtra and other parts of the country. “For the past couple of days, adequate availability of the commodity reduced its demand gradually.
Around 42 tonnes of onion from Egypt arrived in the city via Mumbai and Guntur and were supplied to rythu bazaars at Machilipatnam, Gudivada, Gannavaram, Payakapuram, Kedareswarapet, Patamata and Bhavanipuram,” he said, adding another 25 tonnes were likely to reach the city this weekend.
The estate officer said that the onion stock from Egypt was being procured by the government at an estimated cost of Rs 60 to 64 per kg.
The size of the Egyptian onions is larger and hence, these weigh more than the domestic products.
As only four to five Egyptian onions make up one kg, many people have been asking for two kg onions per person.
“We have arranged three special counters at our rythu bazar to sell the Egyptian stock as there are some people, who regularly come for the commodity. We request the public to purchase onions based on their requirement to avoid causing inconvenience to others,” he said.
Upon being asked when the onion crisis will get solved, Chakravarthy said that onion crops at Kurnool and in Maharashtra were damaged due to various climatic conditions. Yet, the situation was expected to go towards normalcy in the next couple of weeks as the crops being cultivated in different parts of the country will be yielded shortly, he added.