Onion prices leave common man in tears

Hyderabad: Believe it or not! Onions are costlier than exotic oranges and apples in Telangana. The price of the common man's vegetable has hit a century as it is being sold around Rs 100 per kg.

In the last three weeks, the onion prices have gone up to Rs 100 from Rs 60 per kg due to short supply in the wholesale market. Traders said that the transport of the onions from Maharashtra has been low due damage of the crops in the recent rains.

Earlier, 130 to 150 truckloads of onions per day used to reach Hyderabad. But now the number of trucks has come down to 80 to 90 per day.

In Hyderabad, the price of onions was between Rs 90 to 99 per kg depending upon the quality. At national level also, onions have left customers teary-eyed as prices continue to soar in the national capital. The prices of onion on Friday was four times more than last year.

Agriculture expert Vijay Sardana said that due to improper onion storage in the country, the stock of the previous season was wasted. While the new crop has been destroyed due to rains.

"At present, there is a need to import about 10 lakh tonnes of onions. However, onions in such a large quantity will not be available abroad," Sardana said.

The government is trying to procure onions from Egypt, Turkey, Holland and other countries. State-owned MMTC has also signed contracts with Egypt for onion imports and an onion consignment of 6,090 tonnes will be available in the country next month.