Resurgence of the monsoon has resulted in a sharp decline in the prices of essential vegetables such as onion and potato.
According to data from various agricultural produce marketing committees, potato prices have come down 4-70 per cent in various centres. Prices are falling in spite of a crop failure in Karnataka and ban on inter-state transfer of potato in West Bengal, the second largest potato producing state in the country.
Onion prices have dropped 3-30 per cent in various states and even negative in many centres. This is despite a 40 per cent failure of the kharif crop. Some centres like Orissa and Meghalaya have witnessed a surge in prices due to dependence on West Bengal for the crop supply of which, at present, is restricted.
According to officials managing supply of these commodities, the resurgence of monsoon has increased the fear of decay of crops in the storage. Therefore, there is urgent need to sell the crops in the market and recover cash whatever is possible without waiting for further volatility in prices. Besides, various storage owners also want storage places emptied for new crops to be harvested post September.
“There is also a fear of damage of seeds if the crops are left in the storage which will hamper future crops as well,” said an official source.
Officials also mentioned that with the recent bout of monsoon, there have been fresh sowing but the crop will only be available after two-and-a-half months. While the initial kharif crop will be less by 40-45 per cent, there will be enough for supply throughout the season till the rabi crop of onion and potato arrive. This is due to late arrivals of the crops sown towards end of August.
They also clarified that with good monsoon towards end of the kharif season and a full reservoir, prospects of rabi crop are very good. This has become a concern for the farmers who would have rather stored the onion/ potato for selling in off season. “Therefore, there is a hurry among the farmers and traders to offload the commodity in the market and cash out,” explained a source.
The present arrivals in the markets are from stored stock. Out of the 2.95 million tonnes (mt) onions stored in May and June in different types of storages in the country, around 50-55 per cent are over.
The area in onion under kharif is expected to be covered around 45 per cent in Maharashtra, 18 per cent in Karnataka, 66 per cent in Andhra Pradesh, 80 per cent in Rajasthan, 95 per cent in Gujarat, 92 per cent in Madhya Pradesh, 53 per cent in Haryana, 44 per cent in Bihar and 80 per cent in Uttar Pradesh. Sources said that while transplanting of seedling for kharif crop is almost completed, seed sowing for late kharif onion production is expected to continue till mid-September.
Overall, it is observed that kharif onion crop in the country is less by around 40-45 per cent, compared to last year and delayed by about a month. Maharashtra and Gujarat are the two major states where late kharif onion is grown and fresh harvest made available in the country during January and February. “With monsoon resurgence now, it's good for the onion crop,” said an official source.
Meanwhile, about 40-45 per cent stored stocks of potato from cold storages have been supplied to different markets of the country. The balance quantity is sufficient to meet the requirement in coming months, added a report prepared by the National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF). About 25-30 per cent of area is expected to be covered in Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand under kharif potato, while in Himachal Pradesh; it is expected to be more, compared to the previous year.
The crop is under vegetative stage. The harvesting is expected to start from September onwards, though harvesting from some of the pockets of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have started and the produce is arriving in Delhi market, states the report collected by NHRDF. Overall, kharif potato production is expected to be less by about 25-30 per centthan last year’s output, while supply will spread across till arrivals in the rabi season, said sources.
