Monsoon onion price slumps within week

Monsoon onions from various regions are entering the Yangon market on daily basis. There is only a demand for domestic consumption in the market, leading to a drop in the price of monsoon onions from the Myingyan area up to K1,600 per viss (a viss equals 1.6 kilogrammes), according to onion depots in the Bayintnaung market.
Various varieties of monsoon onions around 180,000 visses entered the market on 16 December and most of them are from the Myittha area. The wholesale prices are K1,500-K2,800 and K2,300-K3,700 per viss for Myingyan and Myittha onions based on varieties.
Except for new monsoon onions, summer onions whose price rose to the highest price of K5,100 per viss starting from 6 December are no longer entering the Yangon market. On 9 December, the price per viss of big-sized Myingyan onions and Myittha onions were K4,400 and K4,800, indicating a fall in price by K1,600 and K1,500 per viss respectively.
Two regional depots are receiving 150,000 to 200,000 visses of new monsoon onions supply daily.
New monsoon onions weighing 159,156 visses arrived at the Pakokku market on 8 December at a record price of K3,500 per viss. Similarly, the Myingyan depot received 162,480 visses of monsoon onions on 9 December, with the highest price rate of K3,400 per viss.
Although the highest price of onions from the Myittha area hit K4,000 per viss in the Mandalay market on 8 December, it dropped to K2,800 per viss on 16 December.
The year 2022 is unique in the history of the domestic onion market. Onion price set a new record three months earlier than the previous years. The record price has risen from the previous price of K3,700 to K5,100 this year.
New monsoon onions were planted early because the price of summer onions went up earlier than expected. A great number of new monsoon onions are entering markets in Yangon and other regions despite the minor damage in the plantation. Growers of summer onions are expected to get more profits in the coming summer, like the rain-fed rice of 2022, it is learnt. — TWA/CT