Decreasing big onion prices puts Jaffna farmers in dilemma

The price of red onions has declined drastically in the local market much to the chagrin of farmers in Jaffna who had a bumper harvest this year.

These farmers point out that they were in a predicament for want of a remunerative market for their produce. They say the price of red onions during the drought had shot up to Rs. 400 a kilo, but now the wholesale price was less than Rs. 100 a kilo and the retail price Rs.130.

Meanwhile wholesale traders at the Dambulla Economic Centre said that they had received unprecedented stocks of red onions after the recent rains and that it had resulted in the sharp drop in prices of the commodity. They pointed out that the excess stocks were being sold cheaply. They said they were not in a position to control the price fluctuation caused by the increase in supply.

The farmers pointed out that the heavy rain experienced in the area after a prolonged drought had given an impetus to agriculture, but they had not benefited as a result of it. They said the government should have restricted imports during harvesting time in order to stabilize the prices of local produce.