Onion prices in Yangon market remain high unlike other regions

Although approximately 200,000 visses of onions are daily supplied to Yangon markets, the price remained unchanged, unlike regions outside Yangon.
The prices moved in the range between K1,050 and K2,100 per viss depending on the producing areas (Seikphyu, Myittha), sizes and qualities on 21 March, with 180,000 visses of onions from various regions entering the Yangon market.
However, the bulk supply (180,000 visses) of onions to the Pakokku market scaled down the prices to around K1,000 per viss there, the market data of the Pakokku commodity depot showed.
On 19 March, about 108,080 visses of onions flowed into the Pakokku market. The maximum price was only K9,00-1,100 per viss.
This month, newly harvested monsoon onions and onion seedlings entered the market. The price of onions in the first quarter of this year is higher than that of the year-ago period. This being so, the growers earn a handsome profit this year.
On 21 March 2022, the prices were K350-1,025 per viss in the Yangon market.
This year, the price doubled compared to that recorded in the corresponding period last year.
The onion growers are not happy with the prevailing prices this month in the second highest onion-producing country India as onions are priced at K230 per viss.
Myanmar’s onion cultivation has an output of one million tonnes (600 million visses) per year. For the 2023-2024 financial year, Myanmar aims to achieve an export target of 150,000 tonnes of onions to its foreign trade partners, as per the official notification. India produces about 24 million tonnes of onions yearly. —TWA/EM