Excess supply triggers crash in prices of shallot in Tiruchi market

Prices of shallot (small onions) have crashed in Tiruchi because of heavy arrivals from across Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

One kg of high quality (export) shallot was sold at ₹25 a kg on Friday by the wholesale traders at the Gandhi Market. The price of medium quality of shallot was about ₹15 a kg while the low quality shallot was available at ₹10 a kg.

In the retail markets and grocery shops, high quality shallot was sold between ₹30 and ₹35 a kg. In the Uzhavar Sandhai, it was sold for ₹35 a kg. Low quality shallot was sold at ₹15 a kg in the retail market.

The price of shallot, which hovered around ₹80 a kg in October and November, has been steadily declining since January. The price had crashed in the last few days.

Traders attribute the fall in price to heavy supply from different centres in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Perambalur district and a few parts of Tiruchi and Ariyalur district had been major suppliers to the Tiruchi market. About 2,000 bags from Perambalur and its surrounding areas had been arriving daily in the market for the last 10 days. Similarly, there was heavy supply from Mysuru, Gundalpet, Chamarajanagar, Kollegal in Karnataka, Udumalaipettai, Palladam and Pollachi in Tiruchi. As against the requirement of 200 tonnes, the market in Tiruchi receives 300 tonnes.

“We received excess supply in the last two or three weeks. We cannot hold the stock for two or three days. It has brought down the prices of shallot,” says P. Sudhakar of Sri Kalaivani Traders, a wholesale onion trader in Tiruchi.

N. Saroja, a farmer of Peruvalappur, who sells shallot at the Uzhavar Sandhai in Anna Nagar, said the prices had been falling for more than two or three weeks. The demand had been low.

Mr. Sudhakar said that it was the best time for consumers as they could buy superior quality shallot at ₹25 a kg. But it was a bad period for the growers as the prices could not match the overhead cost and their hard work.

Going by the reports, he said, the current price trend would continue for at least two months.