In wholesale mandis across major producing regions in Maharashtra, steady decline in last year's inventory has seen onion prices hitting two-year highs. The price increase spilled over from Maharashtra to other regions across the country.
According to the data compiled by Nashik-based National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF), the price of the vegetable at Rs 28.64 a kg in Asia's largest spot onion selling mandi in Lasalgaon on Monday, down marginally from Rs 29.54 a kg on November 2. This wholesale price was up by Rs 8.44 a kg or 42 per cent over the past one month.
In the benchmark Lasalgaon market, two months ago, however, onion prices were hovering around 16.45 a kg, nearly half the current market price. The price surge was almost similar to that in major mandis across Gujarat, Delhi and Rajasthan. The current price levels have not seen since October 2015.
The sharp increase in prices is attributed to the delay in harvesting of the new season crop from Karnataka due to unseasonal rainfall in October.
For the four-month period of the current financial year, India's onion exports have jumped by 56 per cent to 1.23 million tonnes worth Rs 1,443 crore compared to 788,257 tonnes worth Rs 977.84 crore in the corresponding period last year.
Source: http://www.business-standard.com
