As potato price cools off in Odisha, onion and garlic tears well up in eyes of consumers

As potato prices have cooled off a little bit with the resumption of normal supply following the lifting of restrictions on the inter-state trade by the West Bengal government, rising prices of onion and garlic have emerged as a new worry for consumers.

While the edible bulb is now priced at more than Rs 50 a kg, garlic is available at around Rs 400 in retail markets. In the last week, the price of onion and garlic has almost doubled.

The steep price rise has left the homemakers worried that the price may skyrocket further in the coming days due to a shortage in supply.

“Heavy price rise of onion and garlic has severely affected our budget. We won’t be able to consume onion and garlic now. What will we eat and how will we live?” asked Gangadhar Panda, a resident of Berhampur.

“We are poor people. How can we buy onion and garlic at such a high price,” said a customer in Rourkela.

“Customers are not buying onion and garlic anymore due to the sudden price rise,” said Arjun Nayak, a trader in Berhampur.

Moreover, traders fear that the price of onion may rise further in the coming days as it remains high in the wholesale markets of Nashik in Maharashtra, the largest onion trading hub of the country.

“Though we are selling onion and garlic with little profit margin, customers are not ready to buy the essential kitchen items at such high prices,” said Bichitra Mallick, a trader in Cuttack.

Generally, garlic is procured from Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. However, heavy rainfall has severely affected the production. There is a lower probability of a fall in the prices of garlic till the arrival of the next crop in January.

As per sources, the reason behind the price rise of onion is because of the depleting stock in the Maharashtra markets. The crop has been severely damaged in Nashik due to heavy rain. While the maximum amount of onion is currently being imported from Andhra Pradesh to meet the requirement in Odisha, the prevailing flood in the neighbouring state is likely to worsen the situation. Under the circumstances, it is expected that the price of onion is likely to rise further in the Odisha market in the coming days.

“Old stock of onions from Nashik is currently supplied to Odisha. Heavy rain has damaged the crops there. The new crop of onion was expected to hit the market in Andhra Pradesh soon. However, heavy rain in the last few days has worsened the situation there. Under the circumstances, nothing can be said about the market price of onion and garlic in Odisha in the coming days,” said Chhatra Bazar Byabasai Sangha president, Debendranath Sahu.