Over 200,000 visses of onions enter Pakokku market daily despite weak demand

More than 200,000 visses of onions enter the Pakokku market in Pakokku Township, Magway Region on a daily basis but demand is still weak, local people said.
Farmers from Pakokku, Seikphyu, Pale-Minnaing, Paung and Yaw townships grow the onion yearly.
The market has been in operation since April, with a minimum of 15,000 visses and a maximum of more than 350,000 visses entering daily.
Today, 6,270 bags of onions: about 219,450 visses of onions came in and were sold for a maximum of K400 and a minimum of K50 per viss.
The price of garlic ranges from a maximum of K2,800 to a minimum of K1,200 per viss, and about 5,000 to 30,000 visses of garlic enter the market daily.
In previous years, onions cost between K1,800 and K2,000 per viss. Demand for onions in the local market has fallen sharply due to a huge drop in local demand.
One viss of good quality onion costs K400. There is still a small number of purchases from foreign countries such as Bangladesh. More harvested onions will arrive soon, according to U Than Win, Chairman of Pakokku District Committee for Agricultural Products Management.
“This year, I have planted two acres of rainy onions with 198 pits per acre, said local farmer U Nyi Nyi Min.
“The cost is K120,000 for one acre of onion. Labour cost is K13,000 and fertilizer application cost is K120,000. The cost of farming is K140,000 and the cattle hire fee is K20,000. Irrigation cost is K11,000 and the cost for herbicides is K100,000. The total cost of harvesting was K300,000 and other capital was over K1.2 million.
“One pit of onion produces 20 visses and is still on sale, so it is not possible to estimate the value of profit. Summer onions were planted on two acres (land cultivation system) at the rate of four seedlings per acre. An onion seedling was bought for K50,000 and the total capital cost was K2.5 million.
The yield per acre is 5,000 visses and the acreage is 10,000 visses. As one viss of summer onion sells for between K300 and K400, there is a loss compared to the cost of investment and resale.
Farmers in our village mostly rely on onions, so we can only hope that we will be free from COVID-19 disease and sell more at good prices in foreign markets”, local farmer U Nyi Nyi Min added. —Salai Ko Kee (Mahar Weikzar)/GNLM