THURSDAY, 26 OCTOBER 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The soaring prices of onions in the markets in Dehradun have resulted in its dipping sale. The vegetable traders are attributing this sudden rise in onion prices to the shortage of supply from Nasik in Maharashtra.
Speaking of this matter, the senior inspector of the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Ajay Dabral said that the onion prices might further hike in the coming days due to the demand/supply gap. “The price of onion being on the higher side can be attributed to the insufficient supply from Nasik with the late monsoon having substantially damaged the onion crop. Normally, the city receives 15 to 20 trucks of onions daily, but this has been reduced to seven now. However, we are not sitting idle. To address the onion shortage, APMC is planning to purchase onions from Alwar in Rajasthan, although they are a tad more expensive. We are of the view that the onion prices will surge by an average of 25 per cent compared to the current prices in the weeks to come,” he added.
Commenting on the sudden hike in onion prices, a local resident of Dehradun Vaishnavi Upadhyay said that she has reduced the usage of onions in her kitchen, opting under compulsion for half an onion instead of a whole one while cooking. “This happens every year before the Diwali festival. Not just onions but tomatoes go out of bounds of the common customers before the Diwali festivities. I hope that the onion price will not get higher than the current price of Rs 50 per kg,” she added.
A Dehradun-based vegetable trader Anuj Sachdeva said that the demand for onions remained low during the Navratri period. “That is the reason why the prices of onions did not increase significantly though the shortage was there. However, after Navratri festivities are over, the demand for onions is seeing a sudden rise and the prices are being impacted by the plummeting supply from Nasik. We can anticipate, given our past experiences, that the demand-supply hiatus would result in the price of this kitchen item shoot up substantially in the coming weeks,” he added.
