India exported 1.4 million tons of onions, valued at Rs 13 billion (€156 mln) in 2021-22. Bangladesh and Malaysia had 46% and 12% share in total onion exports respectively in the last fiscal. Thanks to a rise in onion production and an improvement in its storage facilities at the farmers’ level, prices of the staple vegetable, a political hot potato, are unlikely to see any big fluctuations this year. If things shape up as planned by the policymakers, the seasonal spike in onion prices in various pockets of the country during October-November may become a thing of the past, according to official sources.
Currently the benchmark onion price at Lasalgaon, Maharashtra is Rs 1,220 / 100 kgs down 20% from a year ago, and way lower than the last three years’ seasonal average of Rs 2,354 / 100 kgs.
Rabi onion harvested during April – June accounts for around 65% of the country’s onion production and meets the consumer’s demand till the kharif crop is harvested in October-November. Kharif harvested onions are not stored because of higher moisture content thus entering the market directly.
“Onion prices do not witness a sharp spike in October or November as they used to a couple of years back as production has increased along with storage infrastructure,” Uday Devlankar, former adviser to the Maharashtra agriculture prices commission and a farmer said.
Source: financialexpress.com