While the price of small onions continues to rule high, the price of Bellary onions too has shot up in the city in tune with the nationwide trend. The price has shot up to ₹26 a kg in the wholesale market here over the past one week.
Wholesale traders at the Gandhi Market, which caters to retail traders in several neighbouring districts, attributed the hike to the sharp fall in arrivals from Maharashtra and also due to heavy rainfall in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
The retail price of the onion is higher by at least ₹5 a kg. Just about a week back, it was being sold at ₹13 a kg in the wholesale market.
Wholesale traders say that the market was getting about 10 truck loads of Bellary onions from Maharashtra, accounting for just about 200 tonnes a day. Usually, the market receives about 600 tonnes a day, said A. Thangaraj, General Secretary, Tiruchi Onion Commission Mandi Traders’ Association.
Mr. Thangaraj said that the arrivals had come down over the past 10 days. “We get bulk of the supply from Maharashtra normally during this period. But arrivals have come down, apparently as traders and farmers in Maharashtra are holding back supplies as production has been hit in some States due to heavy rain and floods,” he said.
Meanwhile, the price of small onions continued to rule high at the market at ₹70 a kg.
The retail price in the city is around ₹80 a kg. “Arrivals from different parts of the State continue to remain low in view of the drought. We are getting about 100 tonnes a day against the normal 300 tonnes,” he said.
The rise in price of Bellary onions, close on the heels of a steep rise in the price of small onions, has left consumers worried. “Onions form part of our essential buys every day. It is a matter of concern that the price of Bellary onions, which we had been using in place of small onions over the past month or so, too has increased,” observed G. Chithra, a resident of K. K. Nagar in the city.
Onion traders say that the price situation, as far as Bellary onions are concerned, would depend on exports. If exports continue, there is a possibility of the price going further up, they said.
