Price of big onion slumps in Coimbatore

Prices of onions, tomatoes and potatoes have slumped in Coimbatore markets due to increase in supply

At least 10 lorries of big onion waited for unloading at the wholesale vegetable markets in Coimbatore on Saturday as the price slumped and arrivals increased in the recent days.

As against a requirement of 500 tonnes a day, the wholesale traders were getting almost 1,000 tonnes a day. The wholesale price of big onion in Coimbatore city on Saturday ranged between ₹15 and ₹ 18 a kg.

The traders in the main onion markets - Nasik, Sholapur, Bijapur, etc - kept sending truck loads of onions to their regular buyers (wholesale traders) in Coimbatore. Vehicles wait for two days here for the onions to be unloaded as the demand is not much and the prices have also dropped, said M. Rajendran, a wholesale onion trader. Since the government has banned exports, there is no demand and abundant supply, hitting the onion farmers, he said.

In the case of small onions, the arrivals have started from Karnataka apart from those from different parts of Tamil Nadu. Its prices ranged between ₹8 and ₹22 a kg in the wholesale market. The daily arrivals are about 150 tonnes and this is a season when small onion prices usually fall, he said.

Two other vegetables that have seen a sharp decline in prices are potatoes and tomatoes. The price of potato is ₹15 to ₹20 a kg (except Ooty potato), and the price of tomato ₹ 15 to ₹ 20 a kg. The daily arrivals of tomatoes to Coimbatore used to be about 5,000 boxes of 25 kg each. However, the arrivals are at 8,000 to 10,000 boxes now and the supply will only increase in the summer months, he said.