DHARAN: Large quantities of onions are imported from India as domestic production cannot fulfil demand. Dharan buys Indian onions worth around Rs 150 million annually.
Laxman Bhattarai, manager of Krishi Upaj Bazaar, Dharan -13, said Dharan had been importing about 3,000 tonnes of onions annually from India. “Nepali households have to rely on Indian onions as local output falls short of demand,” he said. “Customers have to pay high prices for the imported vegetable.”
According to Bhattarai, sales at their market alone amounted to more than Rs 140 million during the last fiscal year. Although onion sales at the bazaar have grown massively, there is no official agency to fix market prices. As a result, consumers have been paying rampant prices for the imported vegetable.
Traders estimate that 90 percent of the imported onions are sold in Dharan and adjoining areas while the rest are sold in the hill districts of Dhankuta, Terhathum and Bhojpur. According to Bhattarai, only 5 percent of the local onion requirement is fulfilled by the production in Saptari district.
Nepali consumers have been paying runaway prices for Indian onions. Prices shoot up when the Indian government seals the border at times of shortages in India. During these times, local consumers have to pay sky-high prices for smuggled onions.
