Onions are likely to be dearer with insufficient rainfall in the state and heavy rains in the southern states hurting the production of kharif onions at a time when the stocks of Rabi onions are fast depleting.

To make matters worse, the market yards — where onions are auctioned — have gone on Diwali holidays from October 12 to 20. The absence of auctions for nine days, practically 11 days as auctions were closed for the weekend, is likely to create a scarcity of the commodity.

The wholesale prices, which are around Rs 1,400 per quintal (Rs 14 per kg) at Lasalgaon — the biggest onion market yard in the state, are likely to soar further. Maharashtra tops in onion production — its share was 27 lakh tonnes of the annual yield of 76 lakh tonnes in the country last year.

“There is no water to grow onions this season,” National Agricultural Production Cooperative Federation (NAFED) director Changdevrao Holkar said. “The kharif sowing has largely gone waste because of insufficient rainfall; there is no water available in wells to irrigate. The onions available in the market are rabi onions harvested last summer and their stocks are depleting.”

He said the situation could worsen further as the market yards would be closed till October 20. “It is a difficult situation. Though we have stocks of summer onions available, they would exhaust by the time the new crop arrives, which would take at least a month.”

Holkar estimates that there would be at least 35 per cent shortfall in the harvest of the new crop. The damage to crops in heavy rains in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh would also affect the supplies.

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