Kitchen nightmare swept South Asia, onion prices soared in many countries
Due to the direct impact of India's onion export ban, many countries in South Asia have recently experienced market chaos of "squeezing their heads to buy onions". Since November, Bangladesh, India's close neighbor, has been "looking at onions and sighing" -- the serious shortage of supply has led to the rise of onion prices in the country by nearly 10 times, the vegetable market is chaotic, ordinary people complain, and even the prime minister can't afford it.
Prime Minister Hasina 'quit onions'
According to the guardian on the 18th, since early October, the price of onions in Bangladesh has soared from 30 Taka per kilogram to 260 Taka (1 Bangladesh Taka is about 0.08 yuan). Some people said, 'I've never seen onion prices so outrageous in my life'. In the impression of some citizens, the highest price of this vegetable is only about 120 Taka. Up to now, the soaring price of onions has seriously affected the people's three meals a day. Some respondents said that they had "no taste of onions" in the past two weeks. The country's catering industry has also been directly involved, and some restaurants and roadside stalls have to be temporarily off the shelves. The country needs food made of onions. The prime minister's office claimed that even Prime Minister Hasina began to 'quit onions': her meal last weekend was tasteless because half a piece of onion was not added.
According to the Daily Star of Bangladesh, in the country's vegetable market, vegetable merchants have the same headache about the soaring price of onions. Momen, a vegetable wholesaler in Dhaka, told reporters that his usual onion shipments are 6 to 7 tons; But before the morning market opened on the 16th, he didn't even sell a kilogram. The life of retailers is also difficult: some local vegetable vendors said that they can sell 60 to 70 kilograms a day, and now the sales volume of a day is only about 1 / 10 of that before. In the past, customers who bought by kilogram can only 'cut and buy' 100 grams and 200 grams. There are many customers to 100 Taka 'copy the reserve price' to buy semi rotten onions.
The whole country staged a "battle for onions"
Since the beginning of last month, Rahman, who works in a private enterprise in Dhaka, had to rush to the streets on his lunch break to rush to buy affordable onions with government subsidies at designated sales points, at 45 Taka per kilogram. However, he was unlucky on the day of the interview. 400 kg of special onions were sold out as early as noon.
Bangladesh's Dhaka Tribune said that citizens like him who regard 'robbing onions' as their daily priority are not uncommon in the capital recently. Since the urgent onion market, Bangladesh has launched a government subsidized 'affordable onion', with a quota of 14000 kg per day. So every morning, there will be a long line at the designated onion sales points in Dhaka. Many people have to queue for dozens of minutes before they have the opportunity to rush to buy cheap onions. However, the quantity of affordable onions is limited after all, which can not meet the strong demand of citizens at all; Most people waited in line for a long time. Finally, they would only be told 'please come early tomorrow' and return bitterly.
In addition, the 'welfare' of affordable onions is also limited to the capital area, and people living outside Dhaka can only 'look at the ocean (onion) and sigh'. In kurna, the country's third largest city, some residents reported that unscrupulous businessmen took the opportunity to hoard goods and drive up prices, resulting in the rise of onion prices in just a few days, and the people were miserable. In fact, some businesses throw away a lot of rotten onions that can't be sold every day, resulting in huge waste. In the central city of ghazipur, Bangladesh, many people complained that the government "only cares about the capital" and left more than half of the people without onions to eat.
"Onion shortage" in many countries in South Asia
Onions are known as "national vegetables" for South Asian countries, ranging from the state banquet in the presidential palace to the table of ordinary people. The main onion producing areas in India have suffered serious drought and flood disasters this year, resulting in a sharp decline in onion production, a rise in onion wholesale prices, and the media shouted that India has ushered in the 'onion crisis'. The reporter found that the wholesale price of class a red skin onions produced in Maharashtra rose from 25 rupees per kilogram (1 rupee about 0.1 yuan) on October 19 to 55 rupees per kilogram on November 18. In the embassy area where the reporter lives, the highest quotation shouted by vegetable vendors has reached 80 or even 90 rupees. Not only onions, the prices of other vegetables have almost doubled in the past three months, including essential items for Indian family tables such as tomatoes, zucchini and okra.
In order to stabilize prices, the Indian government asked state-owned trading companies to urgently import 100000 tons of onions at the end of September, and issued a strict ban on onion export. There was no 'notice' of the move, which caught many of India's neighbors off guard. India's "economic times" said that Bangladesh's Commerce Minister Mengxi urged the Indian authorities to lift the ban as soon as possible last month. He said that Bangladesh's annual onion supply gap is as high as 600000 tons, and India is expected to provide 80% of the share. This is because onions are easy to deteriorate. Only when imported from India can we maximize the logistics time and keep the vegetables fresh.
The 'onion crisis' has criticized the Bangladesh government. On the 14th of this month, members of the opposition party accused the government authorities of failing to control prices, which is bound to trigger negative emotions among the people. Due to the special status of onion, many media call it 'politically sensitive material', and its price fluctuation can even lead to election defeat and ruling crisis. The Bangladeshi government has been trying its best to rescue the market recently, and has expressed its willingness to import to many countries, including China. However, international trade will take some time, which is difficult to solve. The prime minister's office confirmed last weekend that the country has stepped up air transportation of onions from abroad.
In addition to Bangladesh, South Asian countries such as Nepal and Sri Lanka have also suffered. Reuters described India's confession as a "kitchen nightmare" in South Asia because "you can't cook without onions, whether it's Curry Chicken in Pakistan, fragrant rice in Bangladesh, or sour bean soup in India".