Onion prices crash due to import of Egyptian variety

Nashik: Onion prices crashed by Rs 321 to Rs 250 per quintal on Wednesday over information that Egyptian onions were being imported by traders to offset the current price rise.

On Friday, 11 August, the rates per quintal in Chandwad APMC were Rs 700 minium and their maximum price was Rs 2,341 and the average was Rs 2,050 while on Wednesday, 16 August, the minimum price per quintal was Rs 700,  the maximum price was Rs 2,020 and the average was Rs 1,800.

The APMC was closed for the last four days and on Thursday, leading onion trader Nitin Jain said that he had received information from traders that about 10 to 15 containers of onions were loaded from Egypt for India. However, the ship will take over three weeks to reach India. Each container carries about 29 tonnes of onion.

Chandwad Agriculture Produce Market Commit-tee chairman Dr Atmaram Kumbharde said that farmers flooded the market with onion over rumours that the imported onion would reduce prices. He said he had urged farmers to bring enough onions and keep the market stable. “Such fluctuations continue in any market but would not affect the retail  market prices as these changes would not translate into lesser prices. The overall market will remain stable or there will be a slight increase,” Dr Kumbharde said.

Dr Kumbharde, who is also a BJP block leader in Nashik Zilla Parishad said that the Centre has not made any moves to import onion or to decide the Minimum Export Price (MEP) on onions. Pungency is the major factor in Nashik onions compared to Chinese onions, which are either bland
or sweet.

However, an Egyptian onion is extremely pungent even by Indian standards and not according to local taste. Experts predicted that the Egyptian onion would not make any impact on Indian onion.