Stocks from Egypt, south India will protect your wallet from onions soon

Mumbai: Onion prices should stabilise in eight days time. From the present price hovering between Rs 55-Rs 70 a kg, it is expected to be Rs 45-Rs 50 a kg. The main reason for the expected fall in prices is the import of onions from Egypt and the new crop from the southern states. Around 200 containers are expected from Egypt shortly. Three containers arrived on Saturday at JNPT and was despatched to wholesale traders in the country.

Traders in the onion market say that when the new onions arrive in the market, the rates of the old onions which are markedly high now, will stabilise.

The other way to bring down soaring prices of onion is for the government to buy the stock from the traders and sell it at affordable prices. “Just like what the Congress-led coalition government did three years ago when the onion prices were at a high then,” said Ashok Walunj, former director, Onion and Potato Market, Agricultural Produce Market Committee, Vashi.

The Congress-led coalition government had opened various outlets – Sausta Bhaji Pala Vikri Kendra, which sold onions at Rs 30 a kg when the retail prices were soaring at Rs 60 a kg, says Walunj.

The new onion crop that was planted in June in Maharashtra is expected to be harvested in September. However, poor rainfall in Maharashtra will impact the crops. “We do not expect a full crop this time,” says Vikas Patil, a farmer, from Lasalgaon, a major wholesale onion market from where onions are transported to many places in India and also exported abroad.

One of the reasons for the steep hike in onion prices has been put down to hoarding of crops. When the unseasonal rains affected the first crop (kharif), and most traders resorted to hoarding it as they knew demand for the daily commodity would go up.

With the government conducting checks to ferret out hoarded suppliers, most farmers are in a panic situation, says Sanjay Pingale, a wholesale onion trader. “What do you expect us to do? When the crops have failed, the price of onions are bound to go up. Traders are scared. The rain is scanty in the monsoons too. You don’t expect him to sell the produce at the prices of last season when his harvest is affected due to rains? He has to bear the prices of fertilizers, labour costs, transportation and finally the retailer has to account for labour, wastage and also rent of the place? Do you expect him to bear these costs? I hope the government is reasonable and understands things from the farmer’s perspective too. It cannot be always about the customer,” Pingale said.

It is a government created myth that onions can be hoarded, says Surinder Sawhney, proprietor, Gujarat Onion Company, Delhi. He argues that since 70 percent of onion contains water, hoarding it will only lead to the bulb going bad and unfit to be sold. “The hike in prices is because the crop is bad and the next crop too will be affected due to poor rainfall. Hoarding is what happens with dal and sugar. When the next crop is harvested from areas in Karnataka like Hubli, Dharwad, Hasan and in Sholapur and Kolhapur in Maharashtra, the prices should come down,” he says.

Another suggestion was for the government to come out with a minimum price control with regard to retail prices of essential commodities. “When the wholesale price of onions are Rs 50, why is the retailer selling it at Rs 80 or even Rs 90 a kg,” asked a trader from Baramati. “Can’t the government bring about a law that does not allow the retailer to fleece the customer during a shortage?”

However, prices have come down today. The wholesale prices have dropped by Rs 5 and the top quality onions are available at Delhi and Lasalgaon at Rs 50 a kg while at Rajasthan it is Rs 40 a kg. In Mumbai, the top quality onions are sold at Rs 60-62 per kg in the retail market and second quality is available at Rs 50-55 a kg.

The suggestion from most of the traders and farmers is that the government can do what the Delhi government is doing now, selling onions at Rs 30 a kg. That is not a difficult thing for the government to do. “Onions are not like chikkis,” says Walunj, referring to the chikki scam that has hit the Fadnavis government. “It is an essential commodity that the government can very well step in and make it available to the consumers while taking care of the farmer and the trader too.”