The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Onion sales jump in Adilabad

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Wednesday, May 21, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Onion sales jump in Adilabad

S. Harpal Singh

People fear rise in its price

Preventive measure: People making bulk purchase of onion in Adilabad.

ADILABAD: It is ironical that the price of onion has plummeted at a time when prices of all other vegetables are touching the sky. As the rise in price of onion had once led to the fall of a Government at the Centre, it now remains to be seen if the increase in prices of other vegetables is going to influence the outcome of the byelections. The emerging pattern of trade of this essential food ingredient in Adilabad provides an insight into the people’s fears with regard to inflation.

At Rs. 3 a kg in retail, even the poor among them are buying onions in bulk quantities to stock for future use.

“People do not believe the trend will continue for long. Fearing the rise its price, they are actually stretching capacities to purchase and stock it,” said Sk. Qayyum, an onion trader who has set up an additional vend by the side of the road near NTR chowk.

“Customers who used to buy only about 250 grams now purchase not less than 5 kg at one go. The well- off among them even purchase a bag or two. Each bag consists of 20 kg of bulbs. The cumulative sale has thus more than trebled,” he added.

“Until a few weeks back, I had to shell out an exorbitant Rs. 14 for a kg of white onions. The Government supplied it at a subsidised rate but the quality did not attract people,” said Y. Venkat Reddy, a resident of Teachers Colony.

Qayyum attributes the fall in price to bumper harvest in Amaravati onion belt, the area from where Adilabad gets its supplies. But for the costly transportation, the produce could have been sold at a far lower price, he points out. He also predicts a rise in its price in the rainy season when stocks begin to exhaust.

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