“Maharashtra’s onion farmers, the star producers of India’s perennial kitchen staple, are staring at huge losses. This is likely to have a serious impact on onion harvest going ahead,” writes Money Control in a story on onion prices. Farmers are demanding the lifting of the ban on onion exports. There have also been reports of farmers destroying their crops.
Vartika Singh, Senior Research Analyst at International Food Policy Research Institute, said that last year’s heat wave was responsible for this year’s bumper crop of onions.
She added, “It is not as if onions have suddenly sprouted in larger quantities, but rather that kharif, late kharif, and even rabi crops have all been harvested at about the same time, which has led to this situation.”
“The extent of the impact is yet to be assessed and will become clearer in the coming months,” Singh said.
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