High temperatures have caused onion prices to collapse in the wholesale markets of Maharashtra even as they have zoomed in many countries. On Monday 27 February, growers forced suspension of trading at Lasalgaon in Nashik district after prices crashed, the Indian Express’ Partha Sarathi Biswas reported. Onions with high moisture from crops harvested in September-October and January-February are flooding the market as a sudden rise in temperature is causing them to shrivel and spoil. Growers want the government to procure onions at a minimum price of Rs 1,000 a quintal and not allow purchases below that price, the Indian Express reported. Meanwhile, onion prices in Turkey have zoomed more than 700 percent over the past one year. In Uzbekistan they are 300 percent higher than a year go. Prices have more than doubled in the Philippines, Pakistan and Morocco, Bloomberg News reported.
(Top photo of onions in a field courtesy of Ganesh Nanote, Akola)
