The price of onion, which gets 60 rupees per kg, has reached 80 to 100 rupees per kg.
The central government has taken a big decision to control onion prices. The government has decided to place a storage limit on onion traders. Under this, the retailer will be allowed to keep only 2 tonnes of onion in stock and the wholesaler will be allowed to keep only 25 tonnes in stock. In fact, the price of onion, which was first Rs 60 per kg, has gone up from Rs 80 to Rs 100 per kg. In Mumbai, onion is being sold at the rate of Rs 100 per kg in retail, while in Delhi, onion price of one kg onion has been increased from Rs 70 to 80. Kolkata has almost the same rate. The retail price of onion in Chennai ranged from Rs 70 to Rs 90 per kg.
Onion sold the most expensive in Chennai and Mumbai as compared to other metro cities on Thursday. If you talk about the whole country, onion rates have risen from Rs 2 to Rs 47 per kg in a single day. According to the Consumer Ministry website, onion, which was sold at Rs 40 a kg on Wednesday in Bangalore, rose by Rs 47 to Rs 87 on Thursday. At the same time, in Darbhanga it was expensive from Rs 40 to 62, in Indore at Rs 45 to 55 and in Patna by Rs 10, it reached Rs 65. However, there is a big difference in these figures of the government and the rate of onion in street markets, weekly markets.
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These 4 reasons skyrocketed onion prices
Dr. PK Gupta, acting director of the National Horticulture and Research Foundation, has considered the following reasons behind the rising prices of onions …
The rain spoiled the kitchen test
According to PK Gupta, onions in India are sown in three seasons Kharif (summer), Kharif (after summer) and Rabi (winter). The arrival of Kharif onion starts in September, while the Kharif after November and Rabi onion from April onwards. The heavy rains in the southwest monsoon last year and this year have severely affected the arrival of onions. The rains in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra have ruined onion crops, due to which prices are seeing a rise.
Acute shortage of seeds
Another reason for onion prices to skyrocket is the acute shortage of onion seeds. PK Gupta said that we had a shortage of seeds for sowing of rabi and kharif last year and this year we will also face shortage of onions for rabi sowing and then onion prices will pick up. The country is facing a shortfall of at least 10 per cent of onion seeds, however, most farmers opted to sell their entire produce for re-sowing during the rabi last year after a price spurt. In such a situation, farmers considered it appropriate to sell it in view of rising prices.
Buffer stock shortage
Madan Prakash, director and onion exporter of Chennai-based Rajati Group, said the central government has insufficient buffer stock of onions. He expressed surprise at the government’s buffer stock of onions (one lakh tonnes). He said that Tamil Nadu alone needs 2,000 tonnes of onions a day, so it can be estimated that how much demand for onions could be there across the country. He said that due to heavy rains, the number of bacteria called anthronose and twister in onion crops increased, due to which 70 percent of onion kharif crops were damaged. Due to this, 35 percent storage of onion of Rabi crop also got rotten. One of the main reasons for the rise in onion prices is the lack of buffer stock.
Premium case
The fourth reason for the rise in onion prices is the volatility premium due to the anticipated shortage of the commodity. Retail prices almost double in the markets of the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) in the event of a volatility premium. According to agricultural economists, there is an alarming increase in prices and premiums due to lack of alternatives to these products, but Dr. Gupta has hoped to curb the increase in onion prices. He said that the central government is taking various important steps for this, especially it is also allowing imports from countries like Egypt.
