On 14th September 2020, India announced that it is stopping export of Onion. Ever thought of the reason?
Here are some interesting factors about Onion and Onion market in India. Price of Onion is always been a concern of politicians in India – especially North India.
In the year 1998, Delhi state government that was ruled by Bhartiya Janata Party till then was toppled because of Onion Price hike. The slogans sounded like ‘bengan, bhindi, aaloo, pyaj…sapnom meih aatah hein aaj'(Brinjal, Okra, Potato and Onion are matters of dream today) and it clicked – the Congress government lead by Sheila Dixit came into power. The Sheila reign continued for 15 years consecutively then on and she became longest serving female chief minister of any state in India.
It is a game changer for both politicians and common man in India. There is no substitute for Onion and an integral part of side dishes made all parts of India.
The highest Onion producing states are from south India and there was excessive rain these pre-harvest period. This had affected the crop and there was a substantial deficit in production due to that.
The price of Onion started shooting up and government had no other options but to stop export. Some how they could partially control the price hike and small onion price in India ranges from INR 50 to INR60 these days of September.
