Agriculture
Fresh Kharif Onion Supplies Expected to Ease Prices Ahead of Festive Season
The all‑India average retail price of onions was ₹52.99 per kilogram on October 10, almost double the price recorded a year earlier. Traders say that the arrival of fresh kharif supplies, together with remaining stocks of the old crop, should improve availability and lead to a decline in retail prices in the coming weeks. The current retail rate is only marginally lower than ₹53.10 per kilogram a month ago and far above the ₹26.65 per kilogram seen a year earlier, according to government data. Wholesale prices averaged ₹4,591 per quintal, up 2.4 % over the past month and 123.3 % from a year earlier.
Vikas Singh of the Horticulture Produce Exporter Association noted that kharif arrivals have begun in many markets and that domestic demand is weak while exports are negligible. He added that Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have sufficient old‑crop stocks to meet demand until the third week of November, and that supplies from Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are expected to continue until the end of November. Early kharif crop from Maharashtra is expected to arrive in small quantities by the end of October, with good production and quality. Supplies from Rajasthan’s Alwar region should also help reduce north India’s dependence on onions transported from Maharashtra.
The Union government has expanded its buffer‑stock disposal programme, covering 123 cities, and reported that kharif onion acreage is estimated to be 5 % higher than last year. However, the fall in wholesale prices has not yet translated into a significant reduction in average retail rates; the all‑India retail price fell only 0.2 % over the month.
Critics of the stabilisation policy, such as Deepak Pareek, founder of HnyB, argue that the government’s approach is ineffective. He said that selling buffer stock at ₹35 per kilogram through select counters may look good on paper but does not address the scale of India’s daily onion consumption, which is roughly 50,000 tonnes. Pareek also pointed out that buffer onions stored in humid conditions become soft, degraded and sprouted, making them unsuitable for everyday shoppers who prefer firm, fair‑quality bulbs.
Pallavi Singhal, the author of the article, covers agriculture, food policy and the rural economy from New Delhi. She has reported extensively on farm policy, food inflation, procurement, agri‑markets and rural livelihoods over the past four years.