KURNOOL: Wholesale prices of onion have slumped to Rs 4 a kg in Kurnool agriculture market yard. This has been attributed to a good harvest and low demand for onions. The recent incessant rains have also contributed to the price slump as the onion crop in hundreds of acres has been damaged. Traders are reluctant to quote a high price for the low quality onions.
According to a bulletin released by the agriculture market yard on Wednesday, the lowest price quoted for a quintal of onions was Rs 419 against the Minimum Support Price of Rs 770 announced by the State government. According to the market yard officials, the highest price quoted per quintal was Rs 1,321, while the model price is Rs 819. The lowest price of onions has been fluctuating between Rs 400 and Rs 420 per quintal for the past one week, bringing tears to farmers.
Generally, the onion season starts in August. Kurnool is one of the big onion markets in the State. On Wednesday, 3,950 quintals of onions were arrived at the market yard. “This is the highest quantity of daily arrival at the market yard so far,” secretary K Govind told TNIE.
“I raised onion crop in three acres of land by investing Rs 1,50,000. The market price is not encouraging due to damage of crop. I may incur a huge loss due to slump in the market price,” lamented GC Harinath, a ryot of Chintalapalle. Onion is not being exported to other States from Kurnool due to lack of demand. It is a major reason for the slump in onion prices, said a trader.