Bengaluru: Onion prices in Bengaluru are slowly inching upwards as erratic rains and drought have hit this year’s onion harvest in the state.
Prices are up by over 50 per cent in many stores in the city, with sellers scrambling to find adequate stock to meet the demand for the essential kitchen staple.
At theAgricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Yard in Yeshwanthpur, Bengaluru, wholesale prices of onion stood at Rs 65 per kg as of Thursday, after consistently hovering between Rs 35 and Rs 40 over the past couple of weeks.
Ravishankar B, Secretary, Bengaluru Potato and Onion Merchants Association, said prices have been rising since the beginning of this week.
“Although the supply has been falling over the past couple of years, this season has been quite bad,” Ravishankar told DH. “The wholesale onion market here is seeing only 100 truckloads or roughly 1,000 tonnes of fresh onion from districts every day compared to between 500 and 1,000 truckloads that used to come in every day in September-October a few years ago.”
The shortage of fresh produce has led to old stocks being sold, for which many sellers are dependent on imports from Maharashtra, he added.
“By now, we should have got fresh stocks from Gadag, Hubballi, Belagavi after getting the produce from Chitradurga and Davangere in August-September. Unfortunately, the overall growth of the crop has been very less,” Ravishankar said.
Another reason for the sharp fall in supply, Ravishankar said, is because many farmers were reluctant to reinvest in the crop after several of them, especially in Maharashtra, suffered major crop loss earlier this year.
Amid the supply crunch, several supermarkets in the city have raised their prices to anywhere between Rs 55 and Rs 80 per kg.
"Two days ago, the price per kg was Rs 50 but we are also struggling with low supply and higher wholesale prices. Now, it is Rs 60 per kg, but I believe it might increase in the next few days," said a vegetable seller in Shanthinagar.
An organic store in Girinagar has been selling a kilo of onion for Rs 80 for the past two days. "Because our products are organic, the prices are double the usual rates. It might even go up to Rs 90 per kg by this weekend," said the owner.
Highlights – Wholesale onion prices in APMC, Yeshwantpur, at Rs 65 per kg; it was Rs 35/Rs 40 for the past couple of weeksAPMC seeing only 100 truckloads of fresh onion from districts every day compared to between 500 and 1,000 truckloads a few years agoMany farmers reluctant to reinvest in the crop after several of them, especially in Maharashtra, suffered major crop loss earlier this year
(Published 26 October 2023, 20:15 IST)