More reason to cry! Not just tomatoes, now onions too will pinch your pockets

After tomatoes, onions are next in line to bear the brunt of supply shortages, and rising prices. Since the past two weeks, wholesale onion prices have seen a surge of around 50 percent in Maharashtra.

In the first week of June the price was somewhere between Rs 6.5-7 per kg (modal) in Mumbai. While the retail price remained the same at Rs 12 per kg, by July 27 it was Rs 9.5 per kg. It is a stark 46 percent rise in prices of onions. The modal price in Nashik was at Rs 5.6 per kg, but jumped up to Rs 6.10 per kg by July 24.

Price of vegetables in Maharashtra has been shooting up due to sundry elements disrupting supply such as heavy rains affecting crops in neighbouring vegetable-producing states, pest attacks, and farmer protests.

While price of tomatoes almost doubled in comparison to the rates at the same time last year, onion had, so far, more or less stayed unaffected by the disruption. However, it has now joined the bandwagon.

The above data by National Horticulture Board amply highlights the steep climb in prices.

A report in the Business Standard also cited a sudden rise in demand among stockists in India and abroad, and low arrivals of produce in the local vegetable markets as reasons for the sudden spike in prices.

Supply has also been affected due to low stocks by stockers. The condition of supply, as per the Business Standard report, was adverse as arrival of onion in Nashik's major market called Lasalgaon mandi fell to 1,200 tonnes on July 24. In the same place, supply saw a record-high level of 2,917 tonnes in the beginning of June this year.