Prices of shallot shoot up as arrivals dwindle

Prices of small onion (shallot) shot up in the wholesale onion market here on Wednesday — to reach the highest level so far in this fiscal — owing to poor arrivals and slump in production.

Shallot arrival has been waning month after month, and shallot production in the district has not yet commenced.

At present, Dindigul market has been receiving shallot from Thuraiyur, Udumalpet, Namakkal and Dharapuram.

“Wholesale price of shallot has shot up to Rs. 55 a kg from Rs. 25 a kg two months ago. In retail market, price of shallot hovers around Rs. 60 to Rs. 65 a kg, depending on quality and size,” says V. Rajendran, a wholesale shallot trader.

Price of big onion in retail market oscillates between Rs. 33 and Rs. 38 a kg and in the wholesale market its price swings from Rs. 23 to Rs. 28, say big onion traders. If this trend continues, shallot price will shoot up further in the wholesale market, traders add.

Normally, the market used to get shallot regularly from Andipatti and Cumbum in Theni district, Sengurichi, Gujiliamparai, Vedasandur and Iyyalur in Dindigul district, Udumalpet, Tiruchi and Mysuru in Karnataka.

Arrival from Mysuru is very poor now, and there is almost no supply from Iyyalur, Reddiyarchatram, Gujiliamparai, Sengurichi, Gujiliamparai and Vedasandur. Now, the entire market has been depending on arrivals from nearby districts and in Mysuru.

At present, farmers in Coimbatore, Namakkal and Tiruchi districts alone bring shallot to the market.

At present, the Dindigul market receives just 3,000 80-kg bags a day, against 4,000 bags brought last week. Arrivals will be around 5,000 to 8,000 bags a day and three to four truck loads in peak season. Within a week, prices of shallots rose to Rs. 55 from Rs. 45. Several godowns in the wholesale market are empty. Exporters too do not wish to lift shallot owing to high procurement price. Moreover, fresh shallots are wet and they have limited shelf life and unfit for exports. But, traders manage to sell them domestically.

But traders hope arrivals from Mysuru will increase in the months to come. But commencement of rainy season on western parts may hit yield, and thereby affect arrivals to the market, they fear.

Arrival of domestically grown shallot alone will stabilise supply and price, they add.