Rain in India caused problems for onion growers and limited production there. Along with strong demand, this made for high prices. Those high prices have kept a lot of the product at home.
“It's difficult to match domestic prices outside of India,” said Sunny Saluja of Atharva International “Farmers really feel it's better to stay in India rather than export, so that's a major concern.” Saluja focuses on the export market, where white onions have been popular this year, so scarcity and high prices at home have especially affected him.
“Storing onions is also not a good option because of government regulations limiting that in order to keep people from driving up profits,” said Saluja. But those regulations, along with other government measures aimed at facilitating imports, could raise availability and lead to a better export situation.
“I feel the onion market in India will be lower in the future because of government initiatives,” said Saluja. “The domestic market will go down and demand outside India will go up."
