MetaBOT at 17:26, 8 July 2023

2023-07-08T17:26:39Z

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2013}}
The '''Indian onion crisis''' of 2010 involved the dramatic rise in the cost of [[onion]]s across markets in India. The crisis was caused by errant rainfall in the onion producing regions which led to a shortage of onion production. The crisis caused political tension in the country and was described as "a grave concern" by then [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]] [[Manmohan Singh]].<ref>{{cite news|last=AFP|title=En Inde, le prix de l'oignon peut faire perdre les élections|url=http://www.liberation.fr/monde/01012309510-en-inde-le-prix-de-l-oignon-peut-faire-perdre-les-elections|accessdate=3 January 2011|newspaper=Libération|date=22 December 2010}}</ref>

==Background==
Onions are considered an important ingredient of most Indian cooking, providing the pungent foundation for curries and other dishes. Onion prices have been an important political issue: they were regarded as the decisive factor in the 1998 state elections in [[Delhi]] and [[Rajasthan]], and were responsible for bringing down the central government in 1980.<ref name="latimes">{{cite news|last=Magnier|first=Mark|title=Indians in tears over skyrocketing onion prices|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/27/world/la-fg-1227-india-onions-20101227|accessdate=3 January 2011|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=27 December 2010}}</ref> India is the second largest onion producer in the world, after China.<ref name="hindued">{{cite news|title=The political price of onions|url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/article977100.ece|access-date=3 January 2011|newspaper=The Hindu (Editorial)|date=25 December 2010}}</ref>

Forty-five percent of the onions produced in India come from the states of [[Maharashtra]] and [[Karnataka]]. In November 2010, unseasonal and excessive rainfall in onion-producing regions such as [[Nashik]] in [[Maharashtra]] delayed the arrival of onions in markets.<ref name="livemint">{{cite news|last=Mishra|first=Asit Ranjan|title=Skyrocketing onion prices add to government's troubles|url=http://www.livemint.com/2010/12/21103634/Skyrocketing-onion-prices-add.html|accessdate=3 January 2011|newspaper=LiveMint|date=21 December 2010}}</ref> In December, when fresh crop usually begins to arrive, onion shipments were reduced from 2000-3000 tons a day to 700-800 tons a day in New Delhi markets,<ref name="ft">{{cite news|last=Kazmin|first=Amy|title=India: politics of onions|url=http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2010/12/21/india-politics-of-onions/|accessdate=9 January 2011|newspaper=The Financial Times|date=21 December 2010}}</ref> raising the price of onion from {{INRConvert|35|nolink=yes}} to {{INRConvert|88|nolink=yes}} per kg in the period of one week.<ref>{{cite news|title=Indian onions crisis: Custom duty slashed to zero|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12057398|accessdate=3 January 2011|newspaper=BBC World|date=22 December 2010}}</ref> The price on some online portals was significantly lower, about 30-40/kg.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

==Aftermath==
Wary of historical precedent, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his government responded forcefully by banning onion exports, lowering import taxes and by getting in shipments of onions from neighbouring Pakistan.<ref name="dawn">{{cite news|title=Onions, coconuts and the politics of taste in S.Asia|url=http://www.dawn.com/2010/12/24/onions-coconuts-and-the-politics-of-taste-in-s-asia.html|accessdate=3 January 2011|newspaper=The Dawn|date=24 December 2010}}</ref> In late December, following government restrictions on exports, wholesale onion prices went down to {{INRConvert|50|nolink=yes}} per kg in metropolitan markets.<ref name="hindocool">{{cite news|last=Mehdudia|first=Sujay|title=Onion starts to cool as tomato soars|url=http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/article977269.ece|accessdate=3 January 2011|newspaper=The Hindu|date=25 December 2010}}</ref>

Along with errant rainfall, hoarding, official incompetence and price-ramping by traders have also been blamed for the crisis.<ref name="dawn"/> The [[Times of India]], in a [[back-of-the-envelope calculation]] alleged<ref name="latimes"/> that wholesale retailers and speculative traders in [[New Delhi]] charged a markup of over 135%, taking in profits of over {{INRConvert|1000000|nolink=yes}} a day.<ref name="TOIrobbery">{{cite news|last=Varma|first=Subodh|title=The great onion robbery: 135% mark-up from mandi to retail|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-12-23/india/28214746_1_onion-trade-wholesale-traders-delhi-s-azadpur|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104084416/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-12-23/india/28214746_1_onion-trade-wholesale-traders-delhi-s-azadpur|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 November 2012|accessdate=3 January 2011|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|date=23 December 2010}}</ref> The opposition [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] blamed the crisis on policy decision on exports and imports.<ref name="livemint"/> Responding to a call from the opposition, 20,000 people demonstrated on the streets of New Delhi to protest the price rise and corruption in the government. The protesters included women and children wearing garlands of onions to symbolize inflation in the prices of basic commodities.<ref name="humanite">{{cite news|title=La crise de l'oignon en Inde|url=http://humanite.fr/27_12_2010-la-crise-de-loignon-en-inde-460875|accessdate=3 January 2011|newspaper=L'Humanité|date=27 December 2010}}</ref>

In 2015 the retail prices of onions shot up again to INR 80/kg in Delhi.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-08-17/news/65526025_1_onion-rate-stored-onions-onion-prices |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305143758/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-08-17/news/65526025_1_onion-rate-stored-onions-onion-prices |archive-date=5 March 2016 |date=17 August 2015 |title=Onion prices go through the roof, retail at Rs 80/kg in Delhi |work=The Economic Times |access-date=27 September 2015 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref> In Pakistan onions were retailing for PKR 40-50/kg.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.geo.tv/article-196090-Onion-prices-shoot-up-after-IndiaBangladesh-place-import-orders |title=Onion prices shoot up after India, Bangladesh place import orders |date=2 September 2015 |agency=AFP}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[2010 United States tomato shortage]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{#seo:
|keywords=Economic history of India, Onions, Agricultural marketing in India, Manmohan Singh administration, History of agriculture in India, Food politics
|description=
}}

[[Category:Economic history of India]]
[[Category:2010 in India|Indian Onion Crisis, 2010]]
[[Category:Onions]]
[[Category:Agricultural marketing in India]]
[[Category:2010 in economics|Indian Onion Crisis, 2010]]
[[Category:Manmohan Singh administration]]
[[Category:History of agriculture in India]]
[[Category:Food politics]]

2010 Indian onion crisis - Revision history

MetaBOT at 17:26, 8 July 2023