Lasalgaon onion prices rise about Rs 700 a quintal in a week

Onion prices at Lasalgaon in Nashik district of Maharashtra, one of the country's main onion markets, rose by about Rs 700 a quintal in nine days this month. The average price of summer onions climbed from Rs 3,351 a quintal on October 10, 2026, to Rs 4,050 on October 19, and the highest price paid in the market rose from Rs 3,601 to Rs 4,525 over the same period, according to market figures reported from the Lasalgaon Agricultural Produce Market Committee. Traders said the main reasons were shrinking stocks of the older crop and a delay in the arrival of fresh kharif onions.

India grows onions in three seasons, and the crop harvested in the spring, called the rabi or summer onion, keeps well and is stored by farmers and traders for months. It supplies most of the market from about April to October. The kharif crop, sown during the monsoon, starts reaching markets around October and November, but it does not store as well and must be sold quickly. The weeks between the end of old stocks and the arrival of plenty of new onions are the tightest of the year, and prices often rise in this gap. That is what traders say is happening now.

Lasalgaon matters because it is a price-setting market. Wholesale buyers across India, and exporters, watch its daily rates, and a rise there usually reaches city retail markets within days. At Rs 40 to Rs 45 a kilogram at wholesale, shoppers in most cities can expect to pay noticeably more, as retail prices also cover transport, wastage and shop margins. The timing is sensitive: demand for onions rises during the festival and wedding season, which is now under way.

For farmers the picture is mixed. Those who stored their summer crop and are still selling it gain from the higher rates. Many small farmers, though, sold their onions earlier in the year because they lacked storage or needed cash, and do not benefit from this rise. Farmers who have planted kharif onions will be watching closely: if new arrivals come in heavily at the same time, prices can fall just as quickly. An earlier report from the same region noted that new kharif onions from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh had at one point pushed Lasalgaon rates down, a sign of how fast the market can turn once fresh supply arrives.

Short-term: Households are likely to see higher onion prices at local markets over the next few weeks, until kharif arrivals pick up. Hotels, restaurants and food businesses that use onions in bulk face higher costs. Traders holding stock gain while supply stays tight.

Long-term: The size and timing of the kharif harvest will decide whether prices ease by November. Repeated price swings of this kind are a reason why farmers and farmer producer organisations keep asking for more cold storage and better onion storage sheds, which would let more growers hold their crop and sell when prices are better.

Who is affected: Onion farmers in Nashik and other growing districts, wholesale traders and commission agents at the APMC, exporters, restaurant and food-processing businesses, and households across India that buy onions every week.

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