Onion prices rise to ₹70 a kg, may shoot up further

“Onion prices started escalating a day after Navratri ended. The vegetable was sold for ₹40-45 a kg, but its cost has since shot up to ₹70-75 per kg at the Narhi retail market,” a vendor said

Thanks to their low arrivals, onions were sold for ₹70- ₹75 a kilogram at retail markets in Lucknow and its adjoining areas even as vendors anticipated the prices to shoot up to ₹100 a kg next month. Onion prices have more than doubled since early this month.

(File)

“Onion prices started escalating a day after Navratri ended. The vegetable was sold for ₹40-45 a kg, but its cost has since shot up to ₹70-75 per kg at the Narhi retail market. At the start of this month, onions used to cost ₹30-35 a kg respectively at the start of the month. Traders are attributing the hike to lower arrivals due to crop shortage,” said Dharmendra, a vendor.

Varsha Singh, a housewife, said, “Onions have disappeared from salads. Instead, people are using radish. Even eateries have stopped serving onions with khasta and poori.”

Traders said this year the rains were late and not adequate, overall, in the onion producing areas of Nasik, Nagpur, Solapur, etc. This has led to much less production, in fact only about 30% of the usual production. The produce, while less in quantity, is not of very good quality either, they added.

Dharmendra said, “The new crop will come after around two months but will be available in limited quantity. The market will remain tight. I think the prices will touch ₹50 per kg in the wholesale market in a couple of days.”

Mantu Sonkar, a vendor at Lal Kuan market, “There is little supply in the market and the produce is also of not good quality. A lot of what we get rots away. Hence, we have to increase the prices to make sure that we do not suffer losses.” He said, “The customers are obviously unhappy at the sudden surge and are blaming us. They are also buying in much less quantities.”

Lata Gupta, another housewife, said, “Every time you come to the market, something or the other becomes costlier. Only in July and August, tomato prices were sky high. Now onions, without which we cannot cook anything. How do we manage our household budget? There seems to be no respite for common people.”