The average wholesale price at the country's largest wholesale onion market -Lasalgaon APMC- has dropped nearly 30%, or Rs 2,000 per 100 kgs, in just a week following the arrivals of sub-standard quality onions. The average wholesale onion price, that saw an all-time high of Rs 7,100 per 100 kgs on November 22, came down to Rs 5,000 per 100 kgs on Saturday.
The volume of fresh winter onion coming to Lasalgaon has also improved from 500 kgs a day earlier to 3,000 kgs a day now. However, this still is much less than the more than 15,000 kgs that came to the market every day during the same time last year.
The kharif (winter) onion plantation suffered heavy damages in the district due to rainfall that continued from August to October-end. The kharif onions arriving in the market are of sub-standard quality and are smaller in size. Therefore, these fresh onions are fetching low rates compared to summer onions available a few days back, said the APMC officials. This has contributed to the drop in the average wholesale onion price by around Rs 2,000 per 100 kgs, they added.
At the same time, the arrival of summer onions, which are harvested between March and April, have almost stopped. The summer onions have a shelf life of around six months and farmers prefer storing them with a hope of getting better prices. The summer onions cater to the market until the arrival of fresh kharif onions, which usually begins from mid-October every year.
[ Rs 100 = €1.30 ]
