Onion prices make buyers cry. BIRGUNJ/KATHMANDU: Onion price has surged past Rs 100 per kg in the domestic retail market, giving a jolt to household budget of middle- and low- income groups. The price of onions hovered around Rs 95 per kg at the wholesale vegetable market in Kalimati today, while retail stores in the Kathmandu Valley were selling them at prices ranging from Rs 105 to Rs 110 per kg. In bordering town of Birgunj too retailers were selling the vegetable for Rs 100 per kg. A month ago, retail price of onion stood at Rs 50 to Rs 55 per kg, whereas two months ago onions were being sold for Rs 46 to Rs 48 at retail markets. Housewife Manorama Saraf of Birgunj said that she was forced to cut use of onion in curries owing to price hike. “Right after the end of Shrawan’s fasting season, family wants to have meat and fish. But with the continuous price hike, how can we afford to buy them?” Manorama said. Hotels in Birgunj have also started using less onion, used as taste enhancer, while preparing fish and other meat items. Onion price jumped over 100 per cent within a month due to shortage of the product in India which caters to around 90 per cent of the total domestic onion demand. Indian media reported that delay in arrival of fresh crop coupled with damage caused by heavy rain in Maharastra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka affected supply of onion in the country. “The price is continuing to surge in India and it might further go up in the coming days until fresh lot arrives from farms,” Ujjwal Karki, president of Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Wholesale Market Traders Association, said, urging consumers to cut use of onions while making dishes for now. Nepal consumes over 200 million kg of onion per year, according to Kalimati Wholesale Market Development Committee Director Arjun Prasad Aryal. Of this, 20.19 million kg of onion were received by Kalimati vegetable wholesale market, the biggest in Nepal, in the last fiscal year that ended on July 15. Most of the Indian onions enter the country via Birgunj, Bhairahawa, Malangawa, Biratnagar, Kakadvitta. As Indian onion started becoming unaffordable, wholesalers have started eying the Chinese market to bring in the product. “We have already placed orders and consignments will start coming in from next week,” Karki said. Once Nepal starts receiving Chinese onions, its wholesale price is expected to dip to around Rs 60 per kg. Earlier in 2010, onions were sold at Rs 100 per kg in the domestic market after onion crops were damaged by floods.
Posted on: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 03:59:42 +0000
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