The price of small onion is expected to go up from the current levels and the farmers should store and sell them in November, according to the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore.

The area under small onion had come down this year due to scanty rainfall, which has also put a pressure on the market arrivals.

In a release, TNAU, quoting National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation, said that while the area under onion in Tamil Nadu was 22,270 hectares, the yield was 3.34 lakh tonnes during 2011-12 with Perambalur district accounting for 24 per cent of the area under onion. Among the other major cultivating districts were Tiruchi, Tirupur and Dindigul.

The release noted that small onion from Tirupur, Tiruchi, Coimbatore and Karur districts were coming to the markets now and the prevailing onion price in Karnataka influenced the price in Tamil Nadu markets. The arrivals from Karnataka have dropped this year and might stop during early October, pushing up the price in Tamil Nadu. The average price for onion cultivated through bulbs was Rs 24/kg.

TNAU release said that an analysis of the Dindigul market small onion price for the past 14 years by NAIP-Domestic and Export Market Intelligence Cell working in TNAU revealed that the price of good quality small onion could be in the Rs 2,400-Rs 2,500/quintal range during October-November, 2012. As the price was expected to go up, it recommended storing and selling of small onion in November.

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