Cuttack: With onion prices hovering around Rs 90, traders of Chhatra Bazar in Cuttack district anticipate that the price might reach Rs 100 a kilo in the coming days owing to several factors.
Chhatra Bazar is the largest wholesale and retail vegetable mandi in Odisha. If the traders’ association is to be believed, no relief seems to be coming in for the consumers for the next 20 days.
Devendra Sahoo, secretary of Chhatra Bazar Traders’ Association informed that there is no consistency in onion prices particularly in Nashik (Maharashtra) and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh from where bulk of the onion stock is imported to Odisha.
“The onion prices are relatively high and there is no uniformity in the quality for which the traders here are reluctant to procure stocks. There is every possibility that the prices may touch Rs 100 per kg in the coming days,” said Sahoo.
According to Sahoo, the onion price hike is not only affecting consumers in Odisha but also across the country. The crisis situation has cropped up mainly due to crop loss in Andhra Pradesh and Nashik owing to flood, he said.
Usually, Odisha gets onion stock from Bolangir and other parts of the State during the month of April-May while bulk of the stock is procured from Nashik and other parts of the country for the remaining 10 months.
“Till new crop arrives from Nasik, the temporary onion crisis is likely to prevail for some time. Under such circumstances, the government should look for alternative sources to import onion,” Sahoo added.