In spite of a deficit monsoon in Maharashtra, onion prices are expected to remain steady in the next few months, according to traders.
Even as large parts of the State suffer due to scanty rains, the onion-growing areas around Nashik have received adequate rainfall.
At Lasalgaon, Asia’s largest onion market, prices are steady at Rs 500-600 a quintal.
Mr Jaidutt Holkar, Chairman of the Lasalgaon Agriculture Produce Market Committee, which controls the main market yard, said the price trend is still bearish. Farmers are bringing to the market the produce they had plucked in April-May. “Thinking that the prices will pick up by July, they had stored a part of their produce in May. But that has not happened,” he said.
Mr Holkar pointed out that lack of a proper export policy has affected business. Constant flip-flop by the Centre over exports is keeping traders away from the market.
“If prices fall further, then we would want the State Government to announce a support price. If the market price of onion falls below the support price, then it should be procured by the State Government,” Mr Holkar said.
Farmers who had stored onions thinking that the prices will firm up during monsoon are now facing significant losses as stocks have started to rot, he said.
Mr Holkar warned that due to market conditions, farmers could switch to other crops in the next season, leading to major shortage of the bulb in the future.
Mr Nitin Jain, a third-generation onion trader from Lasalgaon, said that till Diwali, prices are expected to move only between Rs 500 and Rs 700 a quintal.
Growing onion is not sustainable at current prices, Mr Jain said. The State Government should provide transport subsidy in order to ensure that farmers keep growing onions, he said.