"Earlier, we used to put onion on a bread and eat it, now that is not even possible": Why is the price of onion in Pakistan so high?

The step of cutting onions while working in the kitchen is considered to be the most painful as tears start to flow from the eyes as soon as the onion peels off.

Now these onions are forcing Pakistani consumers to cry eight or eight tears every time they buy them for the past few years. The price of one kilogram of onion, which is considered an essential ingredient of curry, ranges from 220 to 250 rupees in Pakistan.

Onions not only add flavor to the food but also help to increase the volume of the curry.

In Hosharba Manghaai, where the price of big meat is more than 800 rupees per kg, in order to increase the amount of curry in many middle-class households, it is also a tried and tested trick to make broth or gravy through onions.

And when it comes to Pakistani cuisine, almost every curry recipe starts with onions.

When we asked Ghulam Khan, a laborer in Peshawar's vegetable market, about the rising prices of onions, he replied as follows: 'Where should we laborers go? We used to get no curry, so we only got one onion. They used to survive by eating daily bread.

But now the shopkeeper asks 40 to 50 rupees for a 200 gram onion. Although the same food used to cost me 10, 12 rupees till some time ago.

Different provinces of Pakistan currently have different onion rates. In Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, onions are currently the most expensive and are available at Rs 250 to 260 per kg.

Similarly, in the city of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, its price is between 230 to 250 rupees. In Karachi, small onion is available at the rate of Rs.230 and large onion at the rate of Rs.240.

Similarly, the rate of onion in Lahore city of Punjab is between 220 to 240 rupees.

How to stop buying onions?

Sahrish Naz, a woman from Quetta, told BBC correspondent Muhammad Kazim that she last bought onions this week for Rs 260 per kg. "Every week he gets a new rate when he goes to the market."

He says that 'Onion is a basic need, it is included in every curry and it is a need that cannot be saved even if you want to buy it.'

He said that it is the negligence of the rulers that the price of a basic thing has increased to such an extent.

Mashal Naeem from Quetta said that the price of onion has become so high that it is beyond the reach of the common man.

He complained that 'nobody is thinking anything. Only the rulers are increasing inflation on inflation. Why don't these people think how the poor people will live.

But why onion became expensive?

Onion farmers and farmers are blaming last year's floods for the reason and they say that due to the floods, the crop was damaged and lost in a big way.

According to him, the situation is expected to improve in the next month when the new onion crop will be available in Pakistan.

In view of the same situation, currently, onions from Tajikistan and Iran are also available in Pakistan, which are available at a price of around 20 rupees per kg less than Pakistani onions.

Onion production in India is around 500,000 tonnes.

"Generally between August and October, Balochistan meets the onion requirement in Pakistan to a large extent, while after November 15, Hyderabad and Halla crop in Sindh meets the country's requirement."

He said that the onion crop was damaged in both Balochistan and Sindh last year due to which there was a shortage of onions.

He said that when the crops of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will come in the market, the prices will be reduced.

Akhtar Kakar, member of the executive committee from Balochistan of FPCCI and coordinator of Wazir Ali Balochistan, said that where the damage caused to the onion crop caused a huge difference in supply and demand, at that time the import of onions from Iran also decreased. There has been a decrease.

He said that where Iran has increased the export tax on onions, a large amount of onions from Iran are now also going to Afghanistan, due to which now less onions are coming from Iran to Pakistan.

Abdul Aleem Khan, a farmer from Khadkocha area of Mastung district, said that like others, his onion crop was also destroyed by monsoon rains and flooded rails last year. "Only one part of the onions we cultivated on our land survived and three parts were destroyed."

Whatever the reasons, Ghulam Khan, who was in Peshawar's vegetable market, looked at the onions on the cart in our presence with regretful eyes and said, "I did not believe that the situation would change so quickly."