Onion and ginger get dearer

KATHMANDU July 27: The wholesale price of onion and ginger in the domestic market has risen by 18 and 10 percent per kg respectively from Rs 44 and Rs 160 over the last two weeks due to the demand and supply mismatch in the Indian market, which is a major supplier of onion and importer of ginger.



The price of onion has gone up in the Indian market after onion farms were badly hit by the recent flood in India. Similarly, the wholesale price of ginger, one of the major foreign currency spinner goods, has gone up as the demand surges up in the Indian market, which is the largest consumer of Nepali ginger. [break]



Wholesalers claim that the domestic ginger farmers, seeking higher price, have been selling across the borders. “Farmers get around Rs 256 (equivalent to 160 Indian currencies) per kg of ginger in the Indian market," a wholesaler at Kalimati said.



According to wholesalers, the supply of ginger in the capital is limited at just two tons per day whereas the demand is around five tons. Traders have urged the government to cap the export of ginger to India. "The price will immediately go down once the export is controlled," a wholesaler said.



According to traders at Kalimati market, they are receiving only five trucks load of onion per day whereas around 8 trucks of onion used to come earlier.

Nuwakot, Kavre and Dhading are the major districts that supply onion to the Kathmandu valley. Makwanpur and Nuwakot are for ginger. But they just cannot meet the demand.

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