A nationwide shortage of onions and rise in its retail rates have been reflected in Bengaluru
Onion prices touched the Rs 50 mark per kilogram
Bengaluru: A nationwide shortage of onions and rise in its retail rates have been reflected in Bengaluru city too. On Thursday, onion prices touched the Rs 50 mark per kilogram in the retail market in many areas in the city following a shortage. It was only Rs 30 a week ago. Meanwhile, traders feel that the price is expected to hover around Rs 60 to Rs 65 a kilo for the next few weeks.
But in the Horticultural Producers’ Co-operative Marketing and Processing Society Ltd (HOPCOMS) onions were being sold for Rs 39 per kilo. It all started with the indication that there was a short supply of onions across the country. As a result, prices started to skyrocket. “In the wholesale market itself, the onion is being sold for Rs 38 to Rs 42 per kilogram. So, obviously we are selling it for Rs 45 per kilo. Supply has dried up. So, the rate is expected to go up even further,” says Mr. Krishna Gowda, a retail seller from Yesvantpur.
According to him, there is a huge decline in the supply of quality onions from Maharastra and North Karnataka regions to the city, which has led to this sudden zoom in prices.
But many feel that a rise in the onion rate is very common in the months of July and August.
“Prices will not ease till new crops arrive in the market. Last year also prices went up. The price eased only after December, after the arrival of the fresh crops from North Karnataka region,” says Mr Usman Khaleed, a wholesale merchant from Yesvantpur.
But it is the homemakers who are feeling the pinch. They say the government should ensure better supplies. According to Mrs Yashoda Achar, a home maker, onion and carrot prices are hovering around Rs 50. “Every year in the rainy season we feel the pinch of the vegetable price rise. The farmers’ plight is pitiable — farmers who grow these vegetables commit suicide. Government must make some arrangements to ensure fair prices for both growers and consumers,” she ended.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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