Sindh growers are worried over the voluntarily ban on onion exports by the province’s fruit and vegetable exporters. They claim such a ban would not be beneficial for them, further putting them in a difficult position instead.
Mehmood Nawaz Shah, senior vice president of Sindh Abadgar Board, told that harvesting of Sindh crop had already started. “Ban on export will reduce the prices in market and there will be loss to the growers.” Shah said Pakistani onion was still available at lowest prices in the region. In India onion price was Indian Rs100/kg (€1.20).
“If growers don’t get proper prices, it would be difficult for their survival,” he said, adding: “Onions cannot be sold at eight-year old prices. There is around 10 percent input inflation every year.”
The onion growers were already suffering in the province, as its import continued from Iran. Earlier, the fruit and vegetable exporters have voluntarily imposed a “self-ban” on the export of onions effective from November 3, 2020 for a period of 15 days, a statement said on Wednesday.
All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA) Patron-in-chief Waheed Ahmed had said that the objective of this initiative is to ensure stability in price on local level, besides getting good price of onions for growers of the Sindh province for the forthcoming crop.
