Sale of ‘Bellary’ onion for ₹ 45 a kg commenced in the Cooperation Department’s ‘Farm Fresh’ outlets here on Wednesday as the district received 10 tonnes of vegetable reached here. Since the gap between demand and supply of onion has widened beyond manageable proportions, it is being sold anywhere between ₹ 120 and ₹150 in the retail market, much to the agony of the consumers, especially those who are organising functions like weddings. Against this backdrop, the Minister for Cooperation Sellur K. Raju announced that the ‘Farm Fresh’ outlets would soon start selling onion at ₹ 45 a kg to help consumers particularly the poor. As the district received 10 tonnes of onion from Nasik, the sale commenced on Wednesday.
In the first phase, onion at discounted price is being sold at 15 places within the Corporation limits and more ‘Farm Fresh’ outlets will be opened based on demand.
“We’re selling 2 kg per consumer. If the government decides, sale of onion through ration shops will also be considered,” said Ravichandran, Regional Joint Registrar of Cooperative Societies. He informed that onion had been sent to Tirunelveli (two tonnes) and Kanniyakumari (eight tonnes) districts also.
