If there is one vegetable that is religiously added to all cuisines across south Asia, it is onions. The staple vegetable holds an extremely important place in the common man’s life. Onions are grown on around 136,000 hectares of land, with the 2020 figures showing a total yield of 1.74 million tonnes across all provinces and regions of Pakistan. This makes onions, possibly the most important vegetable in a Pakistani kitchen.
The people who have been doing their groceries in the last two weeks, would have realised that the price of onions has shot above Rs 250/kg and in some areas it has already crossed Rs 300/kg. This surge poses a significant challenge for the economically disadvantaged population, grappling with the affordability of this almost essential food item.
How did Pakistan end up in this fix despite importing extra onions from Afghanistan and other countries earlier this year?
The India Problem
It turns out that a major contributor to this crisis, much like the other crises in Pakistan, is our neighbour India. However, the crisis does not stem from some elaborate plan hatched by the hostile neighbour. Rather this shortage in supply comes from the basic economic principles of supply and demand, the onus of which majorly falls in the lap of the Pakistani authorities, for their lack of planning.
Reference: https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2024/01/13/onion-prices-skyrocket-mep-increased-to-1200-tonne/