BENGALURU: Governments have collapsed in the past owing to the spike in onion prices. With five states going to polls in a few weeks from now, the union government seems to have taken the matter seriously and has taken several measures to keep onion prices under check.
Consequently, onion prices, which went up from Rs 40 to Rs 60 in the past few days, came down marginally by about Rs 5 on Monday. The onion prices in many states, including those in the south, are now witnessing a downward trend.
But traders believe that this could be a temporary relief. Ravi Balakrishna, a leading wholesale onion trader at the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Yard in Bengaluru, said the union government’s export-related price mechanism is working well now to ensure that the prices of this essential commodity are under check. On Monday, the prices which went up briefly by Rs 2 in the wholesale market to Rs 62, came down to Rs 55 for fresh arrivals. The prices hovered around Rs 60 in the wholesale markets, while in the retail outlets, the prices were reaching Rs 100 to Rs 120.
Prices of any commodity depend on its supply and demand. According to the APMC sources, around 400 trucks carrying 80,592 bags of onions have arrived at the Yeshwanthpur APMC Yard. The sub-market at Dasanapura received 2,310 bags on Monday.
This means, while the union government has slammed the brakes on the increasing onion prices, the new arrivals will now decide the prices. If there is a dip in the quantity of arrivals, then the prices will go up. Bengaluru received 52,000 bags on Wednesday. On Thursday, it dropped to 46,000 bags. On Friday, the city received 70,700 bags and on Saturday, the supply fell to 63,000 bags, the sources said. November 1 (Rajyotsava) is a holiday. Tuesday’s arrivals would be important. If the quantity is more, then the prices may go down further.
Asked if the measures introduced by the union government will help bring down the onion prices, FKCCI president Ramesh Chandra Lahoti said, ``One can’t say one-time measures will help bring the prices down. It needs weekly monitoring and the state and union governments should work in tandem. Everyone knows that drought has affected the onion crop in Karnataka. A proactive way is to look for states that have surplus onion production and to work with them to ensure adequate supply to curb the increasing prices. This has to be done on a weekly basis as in the case of foodgrains and pulses.’’
Nitul J Shah, a wholesale trader at APMC, said,``Till a reliable source to supply onions is identified, the prices will continue to go up. If there is a good onion crop in Maharashtra in about a month, the prices could stabilise. Karnataka is among the largest onion suppliers in India. But the drought affected the crop output, leading to this problem. Similarly, garlic prices, which were between Rs 50 and Rs 110, have gone up to Rs 160 because of the crop failure in Karnataka. Steps should be taken to ensure adequate supply of onions to the state.”