Onion prices hit rock bottom

Farmers forced to sell crop for as low as ₹1/kg in some parts of State

One kg of onion is still being sold at ₹20/kg in the retail market and the prices are expected to crash this week.

The price of onions has seen a steep fall in the last two weeks with 1 kg being sold for as little as ₹2 in Bengaluru wholesale markets. Three days ago, premium quality onions were being bought from farmers in the range of ₹12 to 15 per kg, but their prices also crashed to below ₹10, by Monday. In other parts of the State, farmers are being forced to sell their crop for ₹1/kg.

Distressed, the farmers in Bagalkot district recently protested by throwing onions on the road and staging ‘rasta roko’. Similar agitations were held by farmers in Hubballi. The Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, which also held a protest in Bengaluru on Monday, has demanded that the government announce a minimum support price (MSP) and open centres across the State for the purchase of onions. “We spend more on transporting onions from the farm to the market than what we get,” said Hanumanthappa, an onion farmer from Amingad, Raichur district, who had come to Bengaluru on Monday to protest.

Basavaraj, another onion grower from Chitradurga, felt the government must announce an MSP and buy their stock. “Last year, onions got good price as a kg went up to ₹30 in the wholesale market. We were expecting a similar situation this year, especially after Deepavali. But, we have now incurred huge losses,” he said.

According to Ravi Kumar from the Onion and Potato Traders’ Association, Bengaluru, there has been a glut of onions in markets across the country leading to crashing prices. “Supply has far outmatched demand for onions in the market. In the last two weeks, markets in Alwar, Rajasthan; Ahmednagar, Maharashtra; and Belagavi, Karnataka have been shut down for days, and they haven’t bought onions as the existing stock is still unsold,” he said.

Why the glut

With a bumper onion crop this year, crops from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have flooded the market, while the harvest season in the State has yet to end.

To add to this, onions from Pakistan and Afghanistan have flooded Punjab and Delhi markets.

“We don’t see the situation improving till the harvest season for the crop is over and stocks are cleared. In fact, we foresee a further drop in prices,” said a procurement official from a prominent retail chain in Bengaluru.

One kg of onion is still being sold at ₹20/kg in the retail market and the prices are expected to crash this week.

CM promises MSP

Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has said that protests by onion farmers had come to his notice and promised that the government would soon announce minimum support price (MSP) for onions. “I have directed officials to examine the matter and suggest an appropriate MSP. We will soon announce it,” he said on Tuesday, speaking to mediapersons following a meeting with sugarcane growers.