PUNE: Onion exports have rose substantially in last one month after the central government removed export restrictions on the bulb. The country has exported 1.50 lakh tonne onions during last one month after the minimum export price (MEP) was removed on December 24.
Removal of MEP has made Indian onion most competitive in the export market, beating traditional rivals like Pakistan and Egypt and even China. Indian onion is being exported to the Far East, the Middle East, Sri Lanka.
India had banned export of onion as the retail prices had touched Rs 90/kg in 2015 due to fall in production in the 2014-15 crop on account of drought in the main growing state of Maharashtra. Increased exports have given support to the domestic prices, which have been under pressure due to heavy arrivals of the kharif and late kharif crop.
Traders and the government is expecting 2015-16 onion production to increase by about 5% to 10%. The ongoing harvest of the late kharif crop will continue till March, after which the harvest of the winter (rabi) crop will begin. The size of the winter crop will decide the onion prices in 2016-17. As of now, government agencies expect production of the rabi onion to go up by about 15% to 20%.
