TEAM HERALD
PANJIM/BELGAUM: The price of onions continued to pinch consumers for the second week in succession, with the state continuing to feel the heat from the cyclone Phailin which ruined the crop in Maharastra.
Prices touched Rs 60 a kilo in the open retail market, it being only marginally lower in the stalls of operated by the Goa State Horticulture Corporation.
With the crop in central India ruined by the untimely rains, north India has had to rely on the southern Deccan plateau for its supply of onions. With the demand for onions going up at the Belgaum market the price has shot up pinching neighbouring Goa.
The GSHC has decided to offset some of its demand by buying some onions from Chikmaglur in Karnataka, instead of Belgaum, where the prices are cheaper but the quality is not as that offered by Belgaum.
“If we want the Belgaum variety of vegetables, it will be expensive. The Chikmagalur ones are a redder variety than the Belgaum variety, which are pink and preferred by most Goans,” Orlando Rodrigues managing director of GSHC told Herald. The prices are expected to remain high for another two weeks.
While onion prices in Goa and elsewhere are rising sharply, the wholesale rates in Belgaum continue to hover at around Rs 1,000-5,000 per quintal, though retail prices are expected to rise in the next few days.
Wholesale traders in Belgaum told Herald that prices of other vegetables have remained stable while the prices of tomatoes and onions have begun to witness a rise, although the price rise was not immediately apparent in the wholesale market.
“Prices of onion had crashed in the last week of September, but they are rising since the second week of October. This is due to the shortage of supply from north Karnataka,” wholesaler Sambhaji Hongekar told Herald.
“Supplies from the Lokapur-Bijapur belt have almost stopped, except for few truckloads. This is probably because farmers there are hoarding onions and are expecting higher prices in days to come,” claimed Hongekar.
In the wholesale market, the prices of onion per quintal (100 kgs) on Tuesday were Rs 1,000-2,000 (small size),
Rs 2,000-4,000 (medim size) and Rs 4,000-5,000 (large size).
Umesh Patil says tomatoes prices will remain high for next few days due to shortage in supply from Belgaum taluka. “Prices of potatoes too will be higher this year as the yield was affected due to heavy rains this year,” added Patil. Potatoes were priced at Rs 1,500-2,000 per quintal in the wholesale market.
Prices of vegetables per 10 kilos in the Belgaum wholesale vegetable market on Tuesday were cabbage (Rs 120-140), tomato (Rs 250-300), brinjal (Rs 200-250), bitter gourd (Rs 300), capsicum (Rs 300-350), ridge gourd (Rs 150-200), lady fingers (Rs 150-200) and English carrot (Rs 300).
