BHUBANESWAR: Amidst soaring prices of onions, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra on Thursday sought intervention of National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) to provide the bulbs at Rs 30 per kg in the state’s markets.
The minister attributed the price rise to short supply from Nashik in Maharashtra and Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh. Since there is no production of onions in Odisha, it has to depend on other states to meet the demand. “We have already asked NAFED to sell onions at Rs 30 here till the supply from Nashik and Kurnool is streamlined,” he said.
In September this year, NAFED had sold onions at Rs 35 per kg in Bhubaneswar. Since the last few days, onions have been selling at Rs 50 per kg (new harvest) to Rs 75 per kg (old harvest) at retail markets, depending on the quality. Vendors said once Kartik Purnima is over, the price may touch Rs 90 to Rs 100 as the demand for the bulb will jump.
Onion prices have doubled in the last six months in the state. At both Nashik and Kurnool, the kharif crop was extensively damaged in the rains during September which led to a short supply to Odisha markets.
Vendors said there was no change in onion price on Thursday but Odisha Byabsayee Mahasangha General Secretary Sudhakar Panda felt the price may come down in the next one week as supply of new onions from the source markets is expected.
In the meantime, the price of garlic has also increased to Rs 400 per kg due to short supply from Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Till a few days back, it was selling at Rs 250 a kg.
Sources in Cuttack’s Chhatra Bazaar market said there are three varieties of garlic available in the market now and the price ranges between Rs 350 (small bulb) to Rs 400 per kg (unpeeled large ones). “The price has increased in the last fortnight. Since production is low in MP and Gujarat, there isn’t enough stock in the markets here. Hence, the rise in prices,” said Bimal Sahoo, a vendor in Chhatra Bazaar. New crop of garlic is expected to arrive in January or February.