Onions from Turkey are unlikely to arrive in Assam and other parts of India as the country has decided to halt the export of the product.
After the decision of Turkey, the already sky-rocketed price of onion is likely to increase more in Indian markets.
India is one of the major importers of onions from Turkey and Egypt.
Assam food and civil supplies minister Phani Bhushan Choudhury announced in the state Assembly that to improve the domestic supply of onion and control its prices, the government was planning to import onions from Egypt and Turkey.
Also read: Onions price soar to Rs 220 in Bangladesh
But it is unlikely that onions from these two foreign countries would give respite to the people of Assam who were hopeful of getting onions at a lesser price.
Assam minister Choudhury announced in the state Assembly on December 4 last that onion would be imported from Egypt and Turkey.
But according to media reports, the price of onions may rise by another 10-15 percent after a brief respite as Turkey — a major import destination for India — has decided to halt the export of the kitchen staple from its shores.
Along with China, traders rely heavily on the supply of onions from Turkey and Egypt, for procuring the same and wholesalers in India are now expected to feel the pinch after Turkey’s decision.
Due to the sky-rocketing prices, most of the grocery shopkeepers in Guwahati have stopped selling onions.
Currently, onions are sold at Rs 120-Rs130 in Guwahati.
According to the reports, provisional data revealed that India imported 7,070 tonnes of onion in this fiscal year.
Of this, 50 pc of the imported onions came from Turkey, according to traders.
However, the price of onions in Turkey soared as a result of the rise in the export of the bulb from the country.
A media report quoted an agent operating in a wholesale market in Maharashtra’s Nashik, Suresh Deshmukh, as confirming that Turkey had to halt onion export as the prices there, too, had shot up.
He added that they took the same step as India — which banned the export of the bulb to regulate the prices— to check domestic onion prices.
According to the report, the area of land under onion cultivation has increased from 2.31 lakh hectares last season to 2.78 lakh hectares by November-end.