At the benchmark Lasalgaon Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandi, the model onion price shot up to Rs 21.50 a kg on Thursday, as against Rs 16.50 a kg on Wednesday. This was the highest since February 11.
Data from the Nashik-based National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation showed that onion was trading at at Rs 24 a kg on Tuesday in the benchmark Lasalgaon mandi in Nashik district of Maharashtra. That's a fall of four per cent since Monday and 40 per cent from Rs 40 a kg on January 20, a level not seen since November 6, 2019. It continues to sell at Rs 40-44 a kg in retail markets across the country.
After government's measures like export ban and import from Pakistan, average wholesale prices of onion in Nashik district's various Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) markets have come down by around 45 per cent to Rs 2,071 a quintal in the last three days.
Maharashtra minister Dada Bhuse said the decision to impose export duty should have been taken with proper coordination.
At Lasalgaon mandi, Asia's largest onion selling market, the onion price jumped Rs 1.50 a kg to Rs 32 a kg, the highest since January last year.
The price per kilogram of onion came down to Rs 2 to Rs 4, which angered the growers, who had stopped the auction at the APMC last week for a day.
With auctions unable to proceed, the median onion price declined 17 per cent or Rs 6 a kg to trade at Rs 30 a kg on Monday, with arrivals of around 500 tonnes.
Devidas Parbhane said with onion prices touching new lows, farmers like me may be meeting the same fate as other farmers who committed suicide
Assembly elections in Maharashtra are scheduled later this month. The farmer protests are likely to affect the results, especially in the onion-growing belt of Nashik.
.jpg)
India eats 1.2 million tonnes of onions a month and the current stock will last till the end of August.
Barely days after imposing a 40 per cent export tax on onions to cool down soaring prices, which, in turn, triggered widespread protests across the main growing belts, the Centre on Tuesday sought to mitigate both political and economic tensions gripping parts of Maharashtra. It decided to procure an additional 200,000 tonnes of onions at Rs 2,410 per quintal for its buffer stock from farmers, a rate that is strikingly close to the price at which they were being exported before the 40 per cent duty was levied on August 19. The export price before the imposition of the duty stood at around $320 per tonne free on board (approximately Rs 2,650 per quintal).
The model or average price for a kg of onion was Rs 6 on Monday -- the lowest in this late kharif and rabi harvesting season, so far. While poorer quality kharif onions traded at Rs 3 a kg, the price of export quality was Rs 9 a kg.
Vegetables and fruits have weights of 1.74 per cent and 2.11 per cent, respectively, in the wholesale price index.
India exports about 1.5 mt of onion every year.
Private traders had placed orders early this month with Egyptian suppliers at $320 a tonne
The agriculture ministry projects India's tomato output at 19.69 million tonnes in 2016-17 (July-June)
Upset over the valuation, Sudhakar Darade returned home and threw 13 quintals of onion in his field.
Traders say prices will remain elevated due to increased demand, lower availability
Onion supply in Nashik low but is expected to normalise in a couple of days
To restrict onion exports and help cut prices in the domestic market, the government had gradually raised the MEP to $1,150 a tonne from $650 a tonne a few months earlier.
Retail prices across the country continued to be at Rs 80 a kg.
Lasalgaon, Pimpalgaon mandis halt auctions to arrest the decline.
In the retail markets, fresh onion is sold between Rs 10 and Rs 12 a kg. Now, farmers have to sell onion at a loss of Rs 2-3 per kg if transport cost is included.
'We will be hoisting the tiranga, but this kind of celebration is uncalled for when the farmers in this country are dying by suicides, their families are ravaged by poverty and farmers are not enjoying any freedom.'
Not only primary vegetables, but also additives like garlic, ginger and chilly have recorded a sharp increase in prices
Onion has become costlier by over 33 per cent in the last one week and over 70 per cent in September so far, reports Dilip Kumar Jha.
The concept of gold as an asset capable of getting anytime money is evaporating.
There have been several instances of traders dumping fruits and vegetables outside mandis. Or of farmers dumping produce outside their villages or feeding them to their animals.
Barring stray incidents of violence like stone pelting, the shutdown called by the MVA allies Shiv Sena, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party was largely peaceful.
Sharad Pawar reckons that the NCP has value as a united, going concern, not as a gaggle of leaders in search of followers, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
'What is bank recapitalisation? When the rich take loans and do not return and the government returns that money to the banks.' 'What is restructuring 5:25 scheme? The government says don't return now, just tell us you will return after five years.' 'Why don't we apply these schemes to farmers?' 'I want to increase the power of farmers to blackmail the government as everyone in the country has the power to blackmail.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances