Onion prices touched a record Rs 200 per kilogram (kg) in the markets.
The four times price hike of the onion – in the last three months – is attributed to the short supply from the northern neighbour. Nepal is dependent on imported onions from India due to inadequate domestic production. But India imposed a ban on the export of onion – last month – due to lack of adequate supply back home.
Onion is one of most important vegetables imported from India as Nepal has imported Rs 5.62 billion worth onions from India in the last fiscal year. Nepal imported onions worth Rs 1.3 billion during the first three months of the current fiscal year beginning mid-July compared to Rs 1.2 billion in the same period in the last fiscal year, according to the Department of Customs.
“There is no sign of prices cooling down any time soon,” according to the vegetable sellers. Likewise, the consumers have also started skipping the onion from their daily meals as the prices have increased beyond their imagination.
The prices in India have shot up due to a shortage triggered by unseasonal rainfall leading to crop damage in the main onion growing zones in Maharashtra of India, the Indian media reported, adding that traders fear a further spike in onion prices as a high amount of crops have been damaged by the unseasonal November rains.
But in Nepal, some traders have started importing onions from China to meet the short supply. “But Chinese onions are not as tasty as Indian onions,” according to the consumers.
The four times price hike of the onion – in the last three months – is attributed to the short supply from the northern neighbour. Nepal is dependent on imported onions from India due to inadequate domestic production. But India imposed a ban on the export of onion – last month – due to lack of adequate supply back home.
Onion is one of most important vegetables imported from India as Nepal has imported Rs 5.62 billion worth onions from India in the last fiscal year. Nepal imported onions worth Rs 1.3 billion during the first three months of the current fiscal year beginning mid-July compared to Rs 1.2 billion in the same period in the last fiscal year, according to the Department of Customs.
“There is no sign of prices cooling down any time soon,” according to the vegetable sellers. Likewise, the consumers have also started skipping the onion from their daily meals as the prices have increased beyond their imagination.
The prices in India have shot up due to a shortage triggered by unseasonal rainfall leading to crop damage in the main onion growing zones in Maharashtra of India, the Indian media reported, adding that traders fear a further spike in onion prices as a high amount of crops have been damaged by the unseasonal November rains.
But in Nepal, some traders have started importing onions from China to meet the short supply. “But Chinese onions are not as tasty as Indian onions,” according to the consumers.
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