Neeraj Bagga
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, December 8
Import of onions from Afghanistan, Iran and Uzbekistan has increased the supply in local market here.
Traders said earlier they had procured onions from Afghanistan in 2013 and 2015. They received only one variety of onion and its taste was not appreciated by locals.
Wholesale trader Surinder Bindra said, “Wide varieties of onions like vertical, flat, round, and some weighing around 800 gm a piece, are cultivated in these countries.” He added that they were receiving demand for onion from other states like Haryana, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh.
Bindra informed that supply of onion from Gujarat’s Gondal area started arriving in the market but it was hardly meeting demand of western part of the country. He hoped that after a fortnight supply from Gujarat’s Bhavnagar and Rajkot would arrive in the market. Later, supply from Karnataka would also arrive in the market. Afghan farmers have remarkably improved quality of onion and its traders are selling onion in the local market.
Afghan traders were arranging stock of onion from their neighbouring countries to meet the demand here. They are selling it between Rs 60-70 per kg which is further sold at Rs 100 in the local market.
High onion prices in the retail market are burning a hole in common man’s pocket. Families from weaker sections of society have stopped buying onion while many dhabas and restaurant owners have stopped serving salad.
Wholesale onion merchants said high prices of onion had brought down its demand while sale of cucumber and radish had increased.
They stated that the prime reason of short supply was breaking of supply chain, which starts from Maharashtra’s Nasik, Rajasthan’s Alwar and Madhya Pradesh’s Indore. All three lost their share of contribution in the national basket for one reason or another.
Meanwhile, residents resented the hike in onion prices. Prabhjit Kaur, a housewife, said constant rise in the cost of onion pricked middle class families who were forced to resort to clever moves to contain expenditure.