Hyderabad: Low-grade onions flood city markets

Hyderabad: With the prices doubling, poor quality onions are flooding the city markets. According to traders, unseasonal weather conditions are the primary cause for the low quality.

According to wholesale market traders and officials at Rythu Bazaars, the reason for the high price and low quality is due to less yield in various parts of the country, especially Maharashtra.

During July and August various States received heavy rainfall due to which corps were damaged. This has resulted in a price hike.

"Just two weeks ago onion was available to consumers at the reasonable range of Rs 22-25/kg. Now grade I onions (from Maharashtra) are being sold at Rs 70-80 in Rythu Bazaar; grade II (from Karnataka ) are available at Rs 54; low quality onions are being sold at Rs 35-40.

Usually, there is always demand of grade I but due to less production we are forced to sell low-quality onions," said Sai Kumar, estate officer, Alwal Rythu Bazaar.

Vijay Kumar, estate officer, Mehdipatnam Rythu Bazaar, said , “ Due to less production, arrival of onion has dropped. This has forced traders to dispose of old stocks kept in cold storage; it is low quality. This will continue for a few months.” Said Ramesh, local vendor, “We traders wait for September and October when we get good yield of onions. But this year there is less production due to unseasonal weather conditions. A few weeks ago onions were available in surplus at reasonable prices. But now the prices have steeply increased’.