'Electronic media splash sensational headlines of the bulb prices about to cross the three-figure mark and focus on customers looking longingly at baskets full of onions, bemoaning their misery without this essential staple of their diet,' notes Shreekant Sambrani.
To give relief to Delhiites, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd has started selling onions at Rs 55 a kg through its five retail outlets and two mobile vans in the national capital.
Not only primary vegetables, but also additives like garlic, ginger and chilly have recorded a sharp increase in prices
The cost of production of onion is around 800-900 per quintal, while prices are hovering around 500 per quintal across major wholesale markets.
Agri co-operative Nafed on Monday reduced onion prices by Rs 5 per kg, selling it for Rs 35 per kg in the national capital through its five retail stores.
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.
Nilesh Veera, director of APMC said, complained that availability of workers is a big problem. They have asked the government to provide enough sanitizers, masks, etc, for worker safety, to call them back. There has been no reply.
Private traders had placed orders early this month with Egyptian suppliers at $320 a tonne
Traders say prices will remain elevated due to increased demand, lower availability
Traders estimate around 30 per cent of rabi crop damage.
The unexpected and heavy rain has affected standing crops in the onion producing regions in the state, and it is beginning to make its impact felt. It is said that even slight excess in rainfall can damage the highly perishable commodity.
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.
There has been some improvement in prices of oilseed and gram after the central government increased their import duties
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.
Prithviraj Chavan helping out Delhi's government tide over high onion prices has not gone down well in his home state of Maharashtra, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
Onion supply in Nashik low but is expected to normalise in a couple of days
In Delhi, the wholesale price is now Rs 48-52 a kg; the retail one is Rs 80 a kg.
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.
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.
The agriculture ministry projects India's tomato output at 19.69 million tonnes in 2016-17 (July-June)
Onion output dropped to 189.2 lakh tonnes in 2014-15 crop year due to poor rains
Devidas Parbhane said with onion prices touching new lows, farmers like me may be meeting the same fate as other farmers who committed suicide
Exports during the same period in 2012-13 fiscal stood at Rs 1,590.79 crore (Rs 15.9 billion), according to National Horticultural Research Development Foundation data.
Upset over the valuation, Sudhakar Darade returned home and threw 13 quintals of onion in his field.
To curb rising food prices, the Union government is contemplating using large-scale nuclear irradiation technologyfor increasing the shelf life of fruit and vegetables, particularly that of onions and potatoes.
'Let the high price of onions clear the market, matching supply with demand.' 'Let onion growers keep exporting -- we are the world's largest onion exporter, export 10% of our production,' advises Naushad Forbes.
According to the official data, arrival of onion in wholesale mandi has increased almost three times to 30,000 tonnes in Bengaluru and 10,000 tonnes in Hyderabad, respectively, in the last one month.
This could be the reason why Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned tomato, onion, and potato as his government's 'TOP' priority, in an election rally on February 5 in poll-bound Karnataka.
Traders said wholesale prices are firm as supplies from producing regions have been lower in the past couple of days.
The concept of gold as an asset capable of getting anytime money is evaporating.
Prices of the key vegetable have also gone up in various cities.
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.
Increased harvesting is expected to boost supply
Retail prices across the country continued to be at Rs 80 a kg.
Onion supply to the city, which comes from Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, is normal at 12,000 quintals in Azadpur, Asia's largest wholesale market, it added.
'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.'
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