Nearly 3 to 4 million tonnes (mt) of onions are wasted every year due to lack of adequate storage facilities, said senior Government officials at an event held here on Wednesday.

The statement is significant considering high retail prices of the bulb that consumers have been shelling out over the last month due to supply shortages around the country.

“India produces 19 mt of onions each year of which 15-16 mt reach consumers. The rest gets wasted due to lack of storages and cold chains,” said Santosh Sarangi, Joint Secretary in the Commerce Ministry, at a seminar on agricultural and horticultural exports held by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Ministries of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs have attributed the supply crunch since late July on the damage caused by unseasonal rain during the Rabi season harvest period. “Onions cannot be stored in a cold climate. The vegetable needs to be put in dry places after harvest, for longer sustenance. We need more space for storage of the Rabi season crop as it is used to meet consumer demand throughout the year,” said SK Malhotra, Horticulture Commissioner.

The Rabi season accounts for 60 per cent of total onion production while the kharif and late kharif varieties make up the rest.

In New Delhi, average retail prices have come down from ₹67/kg a week ago to ₹59 as on Wednesday due to arrivals of the early Kharif crop from Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Despite the slight reduction, prices are 97 per cent higher than at the same time last year when the average price was ₹30, according to Consumer Affairs Ministry data.

An additional round of sowing has been advised by the Centre for adequate supply with northern States following the directive.

“The vegetable has been sown across 150,000 hectares so far in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand combined. The results will be seen at the beginning of next year,” Malhotra said.

Onion production is estimated to have slipped to 18.92 mt in 2014-15 from 19.4 mt the year before.