Onion, tomato retail prices may decline 15% with fresh supplies

New Delhi: Retail prices of onion, tomato and potato are expected to fall 10 per cent-15 per cent in the next 20-30 days with the arrival of fresh crop, which reduce household expenditure on food.

Wholesale onion prices in April are likely to fall from the current level of Rs 1,750 per quintal at Lasalgaon to the range of Rs 900-1,400, said Bhaskar Natarajan, chief executive of agribusiness research and information firm Agriwatch. This would reduce retail prices also he said.

Onion wholesale prices in Azadpur mandi have fallen 16 per cent in the past month while tomato prices have fallen by 30 per cent, Natarajan said. However, potato prices have increased by around 20 per cent in the past month in Azadpur with unseasonal rains throughout the growing season causing intermittent damage to the crop in major growing states, he said.

With the arrival of fresh crop, potato prices are likely to fall up to 15 per cent from current levels of Rs 23-25 a kg, traders said.

Moti Lal of PM Onion trading company at Azadpur mandi said onion prices are expected to fall by the month end as the harvest season is at its peak in Maharashtra, Gujarat, MP and Rajasthan. The onset of the nine-day fasting from March 25 for Navratri will also attribute to the low demand and drop in prices, he said.

A Mother Dairy official in Delhi said the company is selling onion at Rs 38 a kg, potato at Rs 26 a kg and tomato at Rs 19 a kg through their 350 retail outlets. “The harvest has begun for all the horticulture crops and we expect an average 10 per cent to 15 per cent drop in prices by the month end and April beginning,” he said. Supplies of tomato from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and MP are on the rise, the official said. Wholesale tomato is trading at Rs 700 a quintal at Delhi, Rs 533 quintal at Kolar in Karnataka, and Rs 638 quintal at Madanapalle in Andhra Pradesh.

“Tomato prices are already low and are likely to remain so for the next 2-3 months,” said Natarajan of Agriwatch. “Further, 10-15 per cent decline in wholesale prices in April and May is possible. From June onwards prices should start rising again as per its price seasonality.”

He said potato prices were in a comfortable zone for both farmers and consumers during this harvesting season unlike last year when prices had become unremunerative for farmers.