Onion supply drops 97% at Lasalgaon APMC

NASHIK: A sharp 97% drop in the supply of onions at the Lasalgaon APMC in Nashik district due to the ongoing farmers’ strike has pushed up the prices by almost 50%.

The average wholesale onion prices shot up by 46% in just a couple of weeks from Rs 601 per quintal to Rs 880 per quintal on Monday.

The daily supply of onions at Lasalgaon, which was around 15,000 quintals before the strike began on June 1, has reduced to 500 quintals a day.

The prices in Nashik’s retail markets have increased by 50% to Rs 15 per kilo on Monday as against Rs 10/kg on May 31. According to market sources, the retail onion prices are likely to increase to Rs 20/kg in a couple of days if the auction continues to take the hit due to the strike.

“The crash in the wholesale onion prices and farmers’ strike have altogether led to a drop in supply at Lasalgaon APMC,” said Jaydatta Holkar, chairman of the APMC.

Earlier, the average wholesale onion prices had crashed by almost 65% from Rs 1,700 a quintal on February 21 to Rs 600 per quintal on May 18.

A farmer spends Rs 900 for a quintal on onions as cost of cultivation and if the produce fetches anything below this means huge loss.

Presently, onions arriving in the market are of summer crop, having a shelf life of five months. Harvesting of summer onions was over in April and most of the farmers have stored their produce with the hope of getting better prices. The onions stored by farmers cater to the market until the arrival of fresh kharif crop in the second half of October.