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Quality given the go-by at government onion outlets by Gargi Parsai


With fresh arrivals of onions from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, Central agencies on Monday announced their decision to sell them through their outlets at Rs. 35 a kg, setting it as a benchmark price. The variety, however, was poor in quality and low in quantity.

In the retail open market and retail chains, onion prices remained around Rs. 50 a kg, garlic price was unchanged between Rs. 250 and Rs. 280 a kg, while tomato sold at Rs. 36-40 a kg, which consumers said was “unacceptably high.”

While National Agriculture Produce Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) outlets began selling onions from Monday at Rs. 35 a kg, Mother Dairy sold an inferior quality at Rs. 39 and a “packed” variety at Rs. 45 a kg.

The poor quality was attributed to the fact that some farmers in Gujarat have gone in for pre-mature harvest of the late kharif crop, that should normally be done in early January. Arrival of onions from Gujarat improved supplies, but the poor quality hit sales.

According to Azadpur mandi dealers here, lured by the good price that onion was fetching at this time of shortages, some of the farmers had harvested the crop about 20 days in advance. “Either there will be shortages in February as the next rabi crop will come only in April or the government will have to import to augment availability,” sources told The Hindu.

Inquiries from Azadpur mandi, the biggest wholesale distribution centre for fruits and vegetables in Asia, revealed that the pre-mature onions normally fetch lower prices, but at the current price of Rs. 3,700 a quintal in the wholesale market, even the inferior quality was priced “higher than usual” between Rs. 1,200 and Rs. 2,000.

Wholesale dealers said the price of good quality onions appreciated on Monday after supply was hit due to the thick blanket of fog that engulfed parts of north India, affecting movement of trucks and trains. Also, the markets were closed on account of Christmas and Sunday.

According to official sources, 19,000 quintals of onions arrived in Nashik mandis at an average price of Rs. 3,200 a quintal. However, only 600 quintals arrived from Maharashtra to Azadpur compared to 6,000 quintals from Rajasthan and 1,200 from Gujarat.