While onion prices continue to remain high, the government appears not sure when it would again become affordable. Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Monday stated that he would not be able to say when onion prices would come down. He stated that the rains have hit supplies from key onion growing states.
The minister was, however, hopeful that the onion prices would soften as soon as the supplies resume from some of the key states. He added that the high onion prices is a “temporary situation”. “I don’t know about prices but I know about the crop condition. The crop in Nashik has been affected due to drought. As on today, the overall crop condition is good,” said Mr Pawar when asked about the high onion prices on the sidelines of an event in the national capital. The minister added that the stocks of onions are expected to arrive any time from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in various areas of the country. He, however, added that the onion growing states are facing logistics problem due to rains to move the supplies.
Meanwhile, onion prices are still at high levels even while it’s softening in the wholesale markets across the country. Retail prices are also showing signs of softening following the government measures to sell onions through outlets. The move to import onions by the cooperative Nafed also appears to be helping in easing the onion prices in some ways though not substantially.
The retail onion prices in Delhi came down a little lower to `60 a kg from the peak level of `80 a kg. The wholesale onion prices at Nashik in Maharashtra, too, have fallen to `35.65 a kg now from the high of `55/kg.
However, the consumers are not likely to get much respite from the high onion prices till October when the new crop would come to the markets.
The onion crop area in Nashik has seen a 10 per cent dip this year, which may curb the supply to the market.