BENGALURU: The onion prices continue to be high in the retail outlets even as there has been a drop in the wholesale market. In the retail, a kilogram costs Rs 70- 75, while in the wholesale market, it is Rs 40.
Furthermore, traders and farmers have expressed concern that the crop future will be impacted in Karnataka because of the drought due to which dependence for produce from other states will rise leading to an increase in cost. They also expressed their concern over the poor quality of onions available in the market that they cannot be kept for longer days.
Jayamma, a retailer said that since she had got the onions at a higher rate, the sales would be made at the same rate. “There is no reduction in the rate of onions. The ones which are sold for Rs 50 a kilo are small in size and poor quality as they are old stock. The ones for Rs 70 and above are fresh.”
B Ravi Shankar, secretary, the onion merchants association, said that in fact the cost has come down after the central government put a cap on onion exports. The cost will come down in the retail in another 10- 15 days when they have the new stock. But this new crop cannot be stored longer because of the quality.
He said the crop in Maharashtra was good but got damaged during harvest because of the rain. In case of Karnataka, the crop has taken a 25- 30% hit because of the drought. On average in the state would grow 600- 700 truckloads (each truckload being 10,000kgs), this year there have been 200 truckloads only.
Adding to this, farmers said that this time there was no one-time crop stable crop, because of the seasonal changes from the yield in Chitradurga, Challakere, and surrounding areas in July, in September- October from Davangere, and in Bagalkot, Belagavi, and Vijayapura in November- December. “During harvesting for every 100kgs, 10kgs was spoilt, by the time it reached the market another 10-15% was rotten because of the wetness in the crop. The ban on exports will have a minute impact on us, but the poor quality or no crop, will have a larger impact,” a farmer said.
Ravi Shankar said in the coming times the dependence on crops from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh will increase. This yield will also have a shelf life of six months. At present the sales are hand to mouth and hence the rates will reduce gradually.