Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Mar 10, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Mar 10, 2004 |
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Agri-Biz & Commodities
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Horticulture/Fruits & Vegetables Fresh arrivals to bring onion prices down in AP Ch. Prashanth Reddy
Hyderabad , March 9 FRESH arrivals and the State Government's decision to release its stocks into the market are expected to result in a steep decline in the prices of onions in Andhra Pradesh in the coming days. According to the State Commissioner of Marketing, Mr D.S. Murthy, the State Government will be releasing 600 tonnes of onions that remained unsold with AP State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd (APSCSCL) as the price had already started falling with the arrival of the rabi crop output into the market. "Onions are going to flood the market shortly and the prices will fall," Mr Murthy told Business Line. APSCSCL had procured storable variety of onions from Maharashtra to contain the price that exceeded Rs 10 per kg in November last. The corporation sold the onions procured by it through `Rythu Bazars' and public distribution outlets at Rs 7 per kg. The onions had been procured at an average cost of Rs 8 per kg and an additional cost of 50 paise per kg was incurred towards transportation. Now, the corporation will be selling its stocks at the ruling market price, around Rs 5.50 per kg, and will thus be incurring an additional loss of Rs 1,500 per tonne. The Government has decided to release its onion stocks as any delay in releasing the stocks would lead to further losses in the light of the falling prices. Onion prices are generally high during the September-January period and low from April to August. The State average retail prices of onions in November last stood at Rs 8.48 per kg against Rs 7 per kg during the corresponding previous period. The cumulative arrivals till November last were 73,866 tonnes against 87,161 tonnes in 2002, a decline of 15.25 per cent. The prices remained higher in 2003 compared to 2002 as there was a drastic decline in area during the kharif season in view of low rainfall in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Though the normal area under onion crop did not decline in Andhra Pradesh, sowing was delayed due to late rains, as was the case in Maharashtra. As per official estimates, onion production in the State in the current fiscal will be 4.17 lakh tonnes (lt). Against this, the projected consumption is seven lt per year. Hence, there will be a net deficit of 2.83 lt per annum. To meet the demand-supply gap, the State is importing onions from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
More Stories on : Horticulture/Fruits & Vegetables | Andhra Pradesh
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