As prices of Bellary onion continue to increase across the country, its wholesale prices touched ₹50 per kg in the markets of Coimbatore on Friday.
According to M. Rajendran, president, All Vegetables Wholesale Dealers’ Association at Thiyagi Kumaran Vegetable Market, the prices increased by a factor of ₹10 in the last two days. “On Wednesday, it was ₹30 and on Thursday it was ₹40,” he said.
In comparison, the wholesale prices of other popular vegetables on Friday remained well below ₹30 per kg. Potato was priced at ₹28, carrot ₹24, tomato ₹10 and brinjal at ₹10. The sole exception was small onion, which was priced at ₹35, Mr. Rajendran said.
Mr. Rajendran attributed the steep rise in onion prices to the shortage in supply of stock for the past two months owing to the floods in parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka, the two major onion growing states. “My guess is that the price will not decrease for the next two months,” he said.
K.M. Shivakumar, Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), said that TNAU periodically forecasts the prices of only small onions, otherwise known as shallots, and not for Bellary onions. “There is no price correlation or price transmission between the two,” he said, adding that there is no holistic picture regarding the present situation of price rise.
According to him, the onion crop situation in Karnataka is relatively better than that of Maharashtra and that the supply from Karnataka might compensate for Maharashtra.
The State government asked TNAU to forecast the prices of Bellary onion in 2015, when onion prices touched ₹100 per kg, to provide market advisories. Noting that no such instruction from the government has come yet, Mr. Shivakumar said,
“It indicates that things are sailing in a proper direction.” There is no panic situation in the markets regarding the price rise, he added.
Published - September 20, 2019 11:24 pm IST
