 "Demonetisation: Cash crunch continues to impact onion trading")
Ban of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes continues to disrupt the supply of onion from Hyderabad to other states as the onion truck-loads stopped coming from Karnataka and Maharashtra to the city's biggest onion market after wholesale traders temporarily halted the operation.
The wholesale traders had initially stopped onion trading for five days from November 15-19. They decided to further extend the holiday until November 24 citing the cash crunch in the market.
Hyderabad Onion Merchants Association General Secretary Cheguri Venkataramana said, "As banks have increased the cash withdrawal limit for current account holders to Rs 50,000 per week, cash is now available with the onion merchants to meet the daily expenses. But traders from Karnataka and Maharashtra still find it difficult to dispense cash to truck drivers, hamali (labour) and tillers."
Hyderabad market receives onions from Bagalkot and Raichur in Karnataka and, Nasik and Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. From here, the onions are supplied to other states including Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam and Odisha. They are also exported to neighbouring countries like Nepal and Bangladesh.
Maharashtra is the largest producer of onions in India with a market share of 29 per cent, followed by Karnataka with a market share of 22 per cent. The shelf life of the onion from these states is up to six months, and they are suitable to cater to the export markets. Currently the traders are procuring onions from Kollapur, Alampur, Shantinagar, Jogulambha and Wanaparthy in Telangana, and Kurnool and Pathikonda in AP.
Telangana government had directed Hyderabad Agricultural Market Committee to procure onions from the farmers to meet the local demand. The committee is procuring onions from the farmers at Rs 8 per kg for grade-I quality and Rs 6 per kg for grade-II quality.
According to her, the government will directly credit the amount into the farmers' bank accounts within 20-25 days of procurement.
Hyderabad market generally gets around 700-1,000 tonnes of onion a day during this season, while 50 per cent of them are exported to other states. After the announcement of demonetisation, 250-300 tonnes of onion arrived a day to Hyderabad among which only 10 per cent of small and dry onions are being exported to other states based on the requirement, a trader from Malakpet market Pramod Donkina said.
The shelf life of onions from AP and Telangana is very short compared to the onion varieties grown in Karnataka and Maharashtra. Now Solapur market is tapped for exports to other markets.
Market sources say that Solapur market regularly receives 2,000-3,000 tonnes of onion a day while 4,000 tonnes have arrived a day in the last one week.
