Thiruvananthapuram: Small onion prices are leaving households in the city in tears.
Small onion, which usually costs around ₹30 a kg, was priced at a steep ₹109 a kg on Saturday in various vegetable shops across the city.
Small onions are an essential ingredient in Malayali cuisine, used in everything from chutneys to curries.
Such a hike had not been witnessed at least in the past three to four years, retail vegetable sellers said.
In Horticorp outlets, small onion was being sold at ₹109 a kg. A Horticorp stall in-charge said the prices were in the ₹28-Rs.30 range even a month ago. With no ready stock available, prices were on the way up. “However, these will come down in another 15-20 days,” he said.
The Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam’s daily market prices at Chala was ₹80 a kg for wholesale and ₹90 a kg for retail as per its website.
A vegetable seller in Karamana said shallots were available for Rs.₹a kg, but the good quality ones were priced at ₹120. Shallot prices had crossed ₹100 a kg three or four years ago too, but largely went unnoticed because a simultaneous climb in onion prices, he said.
Shallots are mostly cultivated in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. The current price rise is attributed to a fall in production. “A friend of mine who exports vegetables said shallots were coming from the fields at ₹120 a kg.”
A vegetable commission agent at Chala said small onion was priced in the ₹70-Rs.105 range depending on quality, though it had touched ₹115 some days ago. The current hike in prices was owing to a fall in production, leading to fewer truckloads arriving in the city markets. “These are also exported in substantal quantities,” he said.
Small onion prices would come down in a month, he said, warning that in another month or two onion prices were likely to shoot up.
Prices of a few other vegetables such as carrots and beans are at a high as well.
