Nashik: Rising onion prices make farmers cry tears of joy

NASHIK: The average wholesale price of onions at the Lasalgaon Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) on Monday touched a seven-and-a-half-month high at Rs1,250 per quintal due to rise in demand and a drop in supply.
"The arrival of onions in the market has dropped to some extent, resulting in the rise in prices. Earlier, the daily arrivals at Lasalgaon amounted to around 15,000 quintals. This has now reduced to around 10,000 quintals a day as farmers are busy preparing for the kharif season," APMC officials said. They added the price improvement has brought smiles to the faces of onion growers.
Officials at the APMC added the prices are expected to touch Rs1,500 per quintal in a couple of weeks as the fasting month of Ramzan is over and demand has started to increase again.
The average wholesale price of Rs 1,250 per quintal on Monday was a marginal increase from Friday's Rs1,200 per quintal. The minimum and maximum prices were Rs 600 and Rs1,401 per quintal, respectively.
The farmers who need money for kharif sowing are bringing their produce to the market and their produce is fetching good rates, sources said.
Farmers prefer storing the good quality summer onions in the hope of getting better prices later. The prices started increasing last month after the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (Nafed) started onion procurement from the district. In the past one month, the average wholesale price has increased by Rs400 per quintal.