: After having to deal with repeated spikes in the prices of onions during the last fiscal, there is finally a huge respite for people. Wholesale rates of the edible bulb have crashed to as low as Rs 4.5 per kilo in the Capital owing to a glut of supplies from States like Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
The bumper harvest this year, however, has left farmers in tears with reports suggesting that prices have fallen to an all-time-low of Rs. 30 paise per kg at Madhya Pradesh's mandi in Neemuch district.
“There has been surplus onion production across the country this time, and the demand is relatively low. The farmers are badly hit as they spend at least Rs. 12 per kg in the entire process of producing the crop, excluding their labour cost,” said Rajender Sharma, member of Azadpur, Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC).
In Delhi, which primarily relies on these two States among a few others for onions, the situation is equally grim.
At the Azadpur Mandi, the kitchen essential is being sold at Rs. 7.86 per kilo on an average.
The best-quality onions are being sold at a wholesale rate of Rs. 10.5 per kg, whereas the poor-quality and the smaller ones are being bought by traders at Rs. 4.5 per kilo. The retail prices in the city range between Rs. 18 per kilo and Rs. 20 per kilo.
If data of onion prices at Azadpur Mandi of over a year is compared, then it’s the lowest this month. “In August last year, the rates were a staggering Rs. 53 per kilo, and the average cost itself was Rs. 39. In January also the price was as high as Rs. 17 per kg,” said Mr. Sharma.
Lasalgaon mandi in Maharashtra’s Nashik district is also facing the same situation, but prices have not dropped so drastically there, he added.
The supplies increased March onwards during which the Lasalgaon mandi recorded a 25-month low price of Rs. 6 per kilo.
The last time the country’s largest wholesale market recorded an all-time low of Rs. 6 per kilo was on February 15, 2014.
At the Azadpur Mandi in the Capital, the kitchen essential is being sold at Rs. 7.86 per kilo on an average
