Hyderabad: Onion prices, which had the consumers teary-eyed in the last couple of weeks as it shot up to around Rs 70 per kg in the retail market, have started becoming slightly affordable this week. The prices in the retail market on Sunday were between Rs 56 to Rs 59 per kg.
Retail store owners in the city said that the drop in prices have improved their sales as more people are buying them in bulk.
“Unlike the last couple of weeks, we have more people coming forward to buy onions in bulk quantities after the prices have gone down below Rs 60. In the beginning of the month, majority of them would only buy half a kilogram or one kg depending on their requirement. Now that the prices have come down, it seems like the consumption has also increased,” said G Lakshmi, a retail store owner in Moosapet.
Attributing the price stabilisation to the damaged produce due to heavy rains and government’s ban on export of all varieties of onions to foreign countries, the traders and officials of Agriculture Market Committee (AMC) said that the prices are likely to further come down or remain stable for the next few days.
“The produce that is currently being released into the market yard is from the crop which was harvested in February in Maharashtra. Since, there is a ban on exports now, the stock in Nafed which used to be exported earlier, might be released to the markets in Telangana due to which the prices might not increase further,” said Vijay Kishore, assistant secretary, AMC.
“The prices might also see a decline if the produce which has been damaged due to the recent rains is sent to the markets in the coming weeks. As per the information, the new crops have been damaged in Kurnool and Mahabubnagar areas so far,” said Kishore.
Source:-timesofindia.indiatimes.com