Navi Mumbai: Traders releasing old stock in haste leads to price crash of onion in wholesale

In order to store fresh crops of onions in the godown, traders have been releasing old stocks in haste. This has caused a sudden price fall in the wholesale market and touched a record low of Rs 6 per kg on Tuesday at the Onion-Potato market in Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Vashi. The Vashi APMC supplies all essential items including onions to the MMR region.

The fresh crops of onion have already started arriving in the market. The February-April harvest of onions is the major contributor to onions across the country. Traders as well as farmers stock onions harvested from February to April. This stock lasts for the next six months, especially during the crucial monsoon.

On February 28, the onion-potato market received a total of 8027 quintals of onions which is around 40 percent more than normal demands. “The supply is huge and there is hardly any space in the market to keep onions,” said traders at the market.

Following a sudden rise in supply, the price of onion dropped at the wholesale market. The minimum buying price of onions was between Rs 6 per kg and the average price was Rs 9 per kg on February 28. Traders say that winter’s fresh crop of onion has started arriving in the market.

On Monday, farmers stopped the auction of onions at Asia’s biggest onion market in Lasalgaon after prices crashed down. The wholesale price reached Rs 4 to Rs 5 per kg and farmers were not able to recover the input cost.

Even in Mumbai, most retail shops are selling onions between Rs 15 to Rs 20 per kg. The price of onion at Reliance Fresh, a retail chain, was selling onion at Rs 19 per kg. According to traders, the price will settle down once the old stock gets over by March end.