Trichy: Concerned over the spiralling onion price, private traders at the Gandhi market in Trichy have imported 30 tonnes of onion from Egypt. They have started selling the imported variety at Rs 100 a kg, while the price has touched Rs 140 in the retail market.
The current rise in onion price is primarily due to the excess rainfall in Karnataka and Maharashtra. The same was the case of local cultivation in the state as well. It was a double whammy for the farmers in Perambalur, Trichy, Namakkal and Coimbatore where shallot was cultivated on a large-scale, as rain as well as pests brought down the volume of production drastically. That has also reflected in the local market.
Food minister R Kamaraj said two days ago that imported onion from Egypt and Turkey would reach the state on December 12 or 13. Meanwhile, to manage the demand, a group of traders at the Gandhi market imported 30 tonnes of onions from Egypt.
General secretary of Trichy Onion Commission Mandi Traders’ Association A Thangaraj said that they could not meet the demand as they have to supply onion to all the neighbouring districts. So, we have decided to import onion from Egypt, he said.
"We are selling onion at Rs 100 per kg. Since the Egypt onion is a little dark in colour compared to onions from Bellary, customers are little hesitant to buy it. However, we hope to sell all the imports. I hope that the price would slowly come down within 20 days," he said.
Meanwhile, on hearing the import, a team of officials from the civil supplies investigative department visited the onion Mandi to inspect whether it was stored over and above the permissible volume. According to the officials, they found no violation.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com