Onion farmers harvest premature crop to cash in on high prices in mandis

The significance of the current arrivals can be gauged from the fact that the Lasalgaon mandi alone witnesses 22,000-25,000 tonnes of arrivals every day during the peak harvesting season

Farmers in Nashik district, Maharashtra — a major producer of onion— have started harvesting the premature crop to cash in on the high prices in mandis.

Farmers expect onion prices to decline on increasing import and arrivals from local sources. Before that, however, they want to take advantage of high onion prices by selling premature onion bulbs.

Good-quality onion was quoted at Rs 93.50 a kg on the higher side on Wednesday in the benchmark Lasalgaon mandi of Nashik — Asia’s largest onion selling market yard — a rise of Rs 2.60 a kg from its prevailing prices on Tuesday.