The price of small onion has reached an all-time high of ₹120 a kg in the retail market forcing consumers to scale down purchase.
It was sold for ₹50 a kg in the fourth week of April. The price had gone up gradually since then. It was ₹120 a kg in grocery shops on Tuesday. The price was same in vegetable chain stores in the city. In Uzhavar Sandhai, it was₹84 a kg. In Gandhi market, which has a number of whole trading houses for onion, the price of onion (first quality) was hovering between ₹80 and ₹94. Second quality was sold between ₹ 60 and ₹ 70. The price of one bag of small onion (50 kg) was quoted between ₹4000 and ₹4700 on Tuesday.
“The prices of onion are shooting up. It had never reached ₹100 a kg in wholesale market in Tiruchi. I expect that it will definitely breach ₹100 mark this year,” said R. Naresh of Rajaganapathy traders in Gandhi market. Tiruchi market receives onion loads from Thuraiyur, Perambalur, Mysuru, Sathiyamangalam, Samjarnagar, Kollegal and Pollachi. On an average, it gets 15 to 20 loads (12 tonnes each load). However, market source said that arrival had come down to just four loads a day.
“There has been a severe drought in most of the onion growing areas in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Crop failure had been reported in several areas. The prices are likely to shoot up further in the next few weeks,” Mr. Naresh added.
