Pak onions: The good news and bad news

Stock waiting for clearance at port reached the market yesterday but is of poor quality; prices may reduce post Jan 15

Here is a reason for you to smile but that smile might last only for a while.
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The imported onions that were awaiting clearance at the JNPT since days finally reached the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) market yesterday. But most of the stock is of inferior quality.



The large onions, paler than their Indian counter-parts, however, did not find much favour with the buyers.
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The imports are selling for as little as Rs 35/kg in the wholesale market as compared to their darker-coloured Indian counterparts that sold at Rs 45/kg on an average but are still not a preferred choice.

The new stock from Jalgaon, which has been selling for a while, is of a better quality than previously seen in the market ever since the deficiency began.

Bad quality

A senior APMC official said, "The Pakistani batch is not in demand as it is not too good. Hotels are mostly buying it as the rates are cheaper."

Ajit Manushree, who had around 10 to 12 tons of onions with him, was selling the Pakistani imports for Rs 20 to Rs 30/kg.

"The quality is not good, so no one is buying these onions," said Manushree. Around five other shop owners at the APMC were selling the imported onions and they also shared the same sentiments.

However, Nitin Parakh, a trader, said, "A portion of the stock was really good and soldu00a0 out early in the morning itself.

There was only one shop with good onions and those onions were sold for as much as the Indian onions for Rs 45/kg."

The imported large, pale onions are split internally and some are even rotten, with black powder-like fungus all over them. The onions are visually unappealing and thus, less appealing to prospective buyers.

Farmers said that excessive cold or humidity might be the cause for rotten onions.

Pradeep Vaswani, an exporter whose 70 tons of onions were sent to the market yesterday, sold for Rs 30 to Rs 32/kg.

However, he was reluctant to reveal the price at which he bought them. "I've made a loss. Many onions were a little dark because of the closed and humid conditions in which they were stored at the port," he said.

Poor storage

When asked if the manner in which the onions were transported to India was a problem, Vaswani said, "These onions do not need refrigerated chambers to store them in the shipping vessel.

They came with one side of the chamber open to keep them exposed to air."

Trader Nitin Parakh, who purchased 250 bags (12.5 ton) of the onions from Vaswani, said, "The black powder is a fungus because of storage.
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I am selling this stock for Rs 35/kg, while the Jalgaon stock which is quite good is selling for Rs 45/kg."

However, by evening, the stock was cleared out. "The quality was low but by the end of the day it was all sold out," said APMC Director Ashok Walunj.

High retail price

A retailer from Pali Hill said that the retail prices of onions have increased further.
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He said, "The man who I buy my stock from at the Dadar wholesale market said that onion prices were going to increase again. Already, I am selling onions at Rs 65/kg."

Even though, Pali Hill rates tend to be higher than most parts of the city, the average retail price for onions is around Rs 50 to 60/kg at other places.

Walunj, like most other traders and officials at the APMC, is positive that prices will fall post-January 15. "Once the stock from Pune starts coming in from the 15th, prices will fall back to normal levels," he said.

Onions at Rs 9/kg

The MNS has decided to protest against the rise in prices of onions in a different style by selling onions at the rate of Rs 9 per kg.

MNS legislator Bala Nandgaonkar has taken this initiative to source 9,000 kg of onions from Nashik and make them available to his constituents.

According to MNS office bearers, the onions are also being distributed as a New Year gift to the constituents and to alleviate the sufferings of the common man.

However, the party insists that those who want to buy onions should come with their ration cards.

"The onions are being priced low and since Nandgaonkar is also the local MLA, he is bearing the cost of subsidising the onions," said an MNS office bearer.

Jalgaon
Rs 45/kg
What to expect:
> Dark coloured
> Better quality

Pakistan
Rs 35/kg
What to expect:
>Pale coloured
> Rotten
> Split internally (left)
> Black powder like fungus
> Visually unappealing