Onion prices to slide by poll dates

In fact,with monsoon finally withdrawing,the note indicated that supplies will begin returning to normal by the end of this month itself.

“Harvesting of kharif onion in Karnataka,Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu is in full swing and coming in markets of Bangalore,Hubli,Hassan,Dhavengere,Bijapur and Belgaum of Karnataka and Kurnool and Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh. Bangalore market is daily getting fresh produce of around 7,000-10,000 tonne onion per day,” the status note says,indicating the arrivals from major onion producer Maharashtra will “increase from end of October”.

“The harvesting of kharif onion has also started in Maharashtra,Gujarat,Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh but the quantity arrival is very less and expected to increase from end of October onwards,” indicates the note.

“While the planting of crop in Maharashtra was good,the harvesting was disrupted because of the rain that continued till Dussehra. This has disrupted the supply. With weather getting clear and moisture levels going down,supplies from Maharashtra will pick up in next 15 days,” C B Holkar,Director at the National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF),told The Indian Express.

However,this supply disruption of kharif onion mounted pressure on the domestic prices because of the depletion of the rabi crop stocks that meets the demand till the arrival of new crop by October.

“The period from July to September-October is a lean period for production of onion and demand is met mainly from the stored onion crop. Presently,around 0.30 to 0.40 lakh metric tonne stored onions are available for consumption,” Krishi Bhavan note revealed Tuesday.

In fact,the rabi stocks were estimated at 9-10 lakh tonne at the beginning of August,when the prices first began to rise. Going by this statistics,the stocks remained available till October but the delays in fresh harvest because of monsoon have played spoilsport.

But the prices rocketing to Rs 90 a kg in retail markets in polls-bound Delhi,which is ruled by the Congress,has got the government rushing to indicate that it was acting in time to check the prices.

“The reason seem to be the delay in harvesting owing to monsoon. Kharif crop arrivals have been delayed a bit. I discussed the issue with Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. We are in touch with states like Maharashtra,Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh from where onions are supplied to Delhi,” Consumer Affairs Minister K V Thomas told The Indian Express.

Pawar,Thomas and Commerce Minister Anand Sharma are expected to meet on Friday to take necessary steps to maintain sufficient availability in the domestic markets.

All eyes on Maharashtra

PUNE: Retail prices of onion may have touched the Rs 100-a-kg mark in Delhi,but the market seems to be finally looking up to Maharashtra. The prices are set to take a dip a week ahead of Diwali,according to the Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Board.

The board has said the prices will dip by 50 per cent. “The prices are likely to go down to Rs 35-40 a kg during Diwali and remain same till about the end of next month,” said MSAMB Managing Director Milind Akre. He said new onions started coming to the markets last week and the flow was likely to continue till next week. The Agriculture Produce Market Committee,meanwhile,said the wholesale onion price was Rs 56/kg in Pune on Tuesday,while the average for the state was Rs 55. “The retail price should be about Rs 10-15 more. It should further go down in the coming week as rain has stopped and more fresh stock is likely to come in,” said Vilas Bhujbal of APMC. NISHA NAMBIAR