Traders attribute price rise to unseasonal rains and crop loss

Common man’s menu is experiencing a major calamity in the city, as the price of onion continues its steep skyward journey.

Onion, which is part of daily diet for predominant majority, is now scarcely available, and even where available, its price per kilogram has exceeded that of chicken!

“Ironically, even chicken curry cannot be prepared without onions,” guffaws Mohammed Sameer, a wholesale onion merchant at Mahbub Mansion market yard in Malakpet.

He has kept two varieties of onions outside his shop for retail sale, one for ₹60 per kilogram and another for ₹90 per kg, purportedly for its ‘superior’ quality. The lot he sells as superior only has less number of rotten onions.

“These onions will all go bad by tomorrow. What is the point buying them?” despairs P. S. V. K. Shastry, a consumer who arrived to see if he could get onions any cheaper in the wholesale market.

Sameer nods in agreement, and says, he is incurring heavy losses as 50% of onions have to be thrown away. The commodity, being sold at ₹60 per kg, was actually bought for ₹3300 per quintal in the morning.

The price is doubled for retailing, after factoring in the losses to be incurred on rotten merchandise.

And ₹90 per kg is by no means the highest price for the day.

The best variety of onions was auctioned for ₹14,000 per quintal on Thursday morning, which amounts to ₹140 per kg. In retail, the price went up to ₹150 to ₹160 per kg.

“We have been using onion only in limited quantities, and cut down totally on non-vegetarian as it requires liberal use of onions. The government has been talking about importing the commodity for some time, but nothing is seen on ground,” says Sowjanya, a housewife who visited the market.

Traders attribute the price rise to unseasonal rains and crop loss across the country, especially in Maharashtra. Crop yield has come down even locally, from places such as Kurnool and Kollapur, owing to lack of rains.

“Local onion arrivals start from March, and now is the fag end of the crop. Hardly 20% of the arrivals are from Andhra and Telangana. Earlier, we used to get loads from places such as Hubli, Karnataka, but there too, rains have damaged the crop. Now, we get reduced quantity of onions only from Maharashtra,” says P. Shiva Gangadhar from Sri Rama Sai Trading Company, who is a commission agent for onions.

Onions production from Gujarat too has taken a hit due to untimely showers, while the same situation prevails in states such as Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, he said.