Nashik: The wholesale prices of summer onions dropped to a new low on Monday at Re 1 per kg at the country’s largest wholesale market at Lasalgaon Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Maharashtra. 

Onion prices see a downward trend

Earlier, the minimum wholesale price of onions touched Re 1 per kg in 2017 and 5 paisa per kg in 2016.

Onion prices have seen a downward trend by 91% in the past couple of months, from Rs 21.51 per kg in October to Re 1 in December. 

The prices have crashed due to a surplus supply of summer onions in the market.

What caused the dip in prices?

This summer crop, that is harvested in March and April, has a storage life of about six months. Usually, the last batch reaches the market in mid-October; but this year the farmers stocked up on onion supply, hoping to acquire a better price later. However, they did not anticipate a low demand for the crop and the arrival of new Kharif onions the market has further crashed the prices of the summer onions.

With the devastating price of the onions in the market, farmers are finding it increasingly difficult to recover the cost of transportation for the crops. Furthermore, the onions have begun sprouting with the drop in minimum temperatures.

Measures to relieve farmer woes

Onion farmers are suggesting that the government should announce a minimum support price of Rs 20 per kg for the onions to relieve them of their distress. 

On Monday, the minimum wholesale price of onions was recorded at Rs 1 per kg and the maximum wholesale price was recorded at Rs 3.91 per kg at Lasalgaon APMC. The average price remained at Rs 2 per kg.

The Maharashtra government has announced a Rs 150 crore relief package to onion farmers.