BHUBANESWAR : The demand for onions may have come down due to the Kartika month but the edible bulb’s price is yet to see a decline. In the last six months, onion cost has doubled in the Twin City.
After cooling off for a few days, onion’s wholesale cost has risen to Rs 62-Rs 65 per kg depending on the quality. At retail points, it is selling at Rs 70 to Rs 75 a kg, which is Rs 15 higher than the price at which it was being sold four months back. In June this year, onion prices had surged to Rs 40 a kg from Rs 30 due to delayed production caused by insufficient rainfall.
Owing to shortage of stock in wholesale markets, the prices have been increasing steadily and are likely to touch Rs 80 to Rs 90 in the next few days if the supply does not improve or new crops do not arrive.
Odisha meets its onion requirement from Nashik in Maharashtra and Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh. In both regions, the kharif crop has been extensively damaged in the rains during September. The scarcity has driven up the demand at both the source and destination markets with Nashik onions (good quality old onions) selling at Rs 62 to Rs 65 in the Twin City markets while those from Kurnool (new but medium quality onions) a bit cheaper at Rs 40 to 55, depending on the quality.
“Crops have been damaged entirely in both Nashik and Kurnool. We are now getting two to three trucks of onions from Kurnool while onions from Nashik are arriving only on a few days. The stock that we are receiving is also of poor quality. The current shortage has triggered a price rise in the local markets and there are chances that it may further go up,” said Chatra Bazaar traders union secretary Debendra Sahoo.
Secretary of Kuberpuri Byabasayee Sangha Shakti Shankar Mishra said farmers in Kurnool and Maharashtra have planted new crops but the price rise will continue till new crops arrive in Odisha markets. He also blamed the retailers for the price rise.
“We are buying good quality onions at Rs 65 per kg but irrespective of the quality, retailers keep the prices high. For instance, the damaged onions are also being sold at Rs 70 to 75 a kg. The good quality and older onions are even costlier,” he said.