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‘Onion prices will remain high until January first week’: NAFED director
According to the Nafed director, importing onions from other countries will not help as the taste is different from the local produce.
Amidst onion crisis, the government is importing the vegetable from Egypt and Turkey to improve the domestic supply and control its prices. Experts cite that the government’s move is only for consumer satisfaction and the price of onion will not reduce till January first week.
Nanasaheb Patil, former Maharashtra agriculture secretary, said, “Importing onions is a tool used for psychological sentiments. It helps reduce prices when the shortage is not much. However, this time there is acute shortage, hence importing onions will not help in reducing its prices,” he added.
“India’s domestic demand of onions is 50,000 metric tonnes. The government is claiming that they are importing onions from Egypt, Turkey and Afghanistan, but the prices will not come down until the new crop arrives. Prices of onion will remain high until the first week of January next year. The government should make it clear to the residents that the rise in price is due to damaged crops,” said Nanasaheb Patil, director, National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed).
According to the Nafed director, importing onions from other countries will not help as the taste is different from the local produce. Onions are mainly used in hotels and households to make gravy and the imported vegetable will only sweeten it.
He said this year’s onion crisis is rooted in a supply crunch triggered first by a sluggish start to the monsoon and then delayed harvest due to heavy rains.
Sunil Ahire, a farmer, said, “Everyone is talking about onions nowadays because of the rise in price. However, when the price dips to Rs 2 per kg, no one talks about it. Though the prices are high, the yield is less. There has been no change in farmers’ income as maximum crops have been damaged. Though onion prices have reached Rs 150 per kg, farmers are selling it only in wholesale markets. The entire profit does not reach us and there is a huge difference between wholesale and retail prices.”
Sunil Pawar, managing director, Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Board, said, “The onion plantation has come down to 60,000 hectares and the yield is less, which is impacting its sale price.”
Ajay Nerkar, an onion wholesale trader from Nashik, said, “The difference in wholesale and retail prices is between 50 and 70 per cent. In the retail market, transport and other handling costs are added. The retailer’s margin is also added to the cost. Hence, there is a sizeable gap in the amount at which the farmers sell onions to wholesalers and the prices at which a consumer buys it from the retail market.”
