Pak, Bangla interest boosts onion exports by 50% in 2008-09

Onion exports from India have recorded over 50 per cent jump in 2008-09 on rising demand from neighbouring countries.

India exported 1.67 million tonnes of onion in 2008-09, up 51.7 per cent from 1.10 million tonnes in 2007-08. The value of export in 2008-09 was Rs 1,816 crore, up 41.3 per cent from Rs 1,285 crore in the previous year. Exports were a little over 20 per cent of the country’s total onion output.

“We saw a higher demand for onion from neighbouring countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh. Pakistan had a low onion output, forcing it to import,” said R P Gupta, director, National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation. Gupta also said that availability of onion in the domestic market had been good.

Domestic output in 2008-09 stood at 7.64 million tonnes, up 2.5 per cent from 7.5 million tonnes in 2007-08. The rise in output has been attributed to an increase in acreage to 534,000 hectares from 527,000 hectares in the previous year.

Post-Diwali, the price of the commodity in the wholesale market has been ruling above Rs 20 a kg.

Currently, the prices are under check due to the arrival of fresh rabi crop. In Nashik district in Maharashtra, arrivals have started but the initial crop is of poor quality. Maharashtra accounts for 30 per cent of onion output in the country. Prices in the Nashik mandis opened at Rs 550 a quintal and are expected to remain stable in the next couple of weeks.

Nashik is a major onion producing centre in the country. The district produces about 1.2 million tonnes of onion annually.

Farmers here are not in hurry to sell their crop as they have seen high prices last year and are likely to wait for prices to improve as the crop can be stored for 8-12 months. For now, arrival of onion in the Nashik APMC market has come down by around 40-50 per cent compared to last month. The rabi output is said to be lower in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat.