Bumper crop leads to price drop in Nashik, but you will still pay Rs 25/kg
What if you could get a kilo of onions at just 5 paise? This is reality in Nashik where onions are produced and supplied to Mumbai. At this satellite town, which is 40km from Karjat railway station, vegetable vendors are either dumping the stock or selling it at throwaway prices. Despite this, local retailers and vendors in Mumbai are still selling it to you at Rs 20-25 a kg.
Over the last few weeks, there has been an excess in production of onions, especially in the Nashik belt. Pic for representation
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Over the last few weeks, there has been an excess in production of onions, especially in the Nashik belt. Sources in the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) — which is the wholesale body from where vegetables and fruits are distributed throughout Mumbai — said that the stock of onions has gone up substantially.
Presently, at APMC, the godowns are filled with gunny bags containing onions as there is excess supply that does not match demand. During the month of Shravan, which started in the first week of August, people skip onions. With the Ganpati festival around the corner, this abstinence will continue till September 15.
Sanjay Pingle, onion trader at APMC, said, “We are selling onions at R6-8 per kg or even less depending on the size and quality of onions.”
Ideally, after considering the transportation and labour cost, the retailers are expected to sell the onions at around Rs 12-15 a kg. But, they are still selling it at Rs 20-25 a kg depending on area.
Each day, 100 trucks filled with 10-12 tonnes of onions leave from APMC for various major vegetable markets in Mumbai. Sources said the farmers in Nashik, who earlier cultivated wheat, soya or corn; began using the same land for onions because its demand was high at the time.
This, however, resulted in a bumper harvest, which in turn resulted in wastage of onions. Sources in APMC also said that even exports to northern states like Delhi and Punjab has been affected as onion produce in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh has been higher than usual.
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