28-05-2025
Rain halts morning session of Lasalgaon onion auction
Nashik: Intense rainfall disrupted the onion trading activities at the Lasalgaon agriculture produce market committee, the nation's biggest wholesale onion market, in Nashik district on Wednesday morning.
Moreover, the wholesale onion rates at Lasalgaon saw a 20% increase on Wednesday, reaching Rs 1,375 per quintal — up from Saturday's Rs 1,150 per quintal. The rainfall-induced supply shortage contributed to this price surge.
At the Lasalgaon APMC, onion trading sessions operate twice daily: morning hours from 9.30am to 12.30pm., and afternoon hours from 3.30pm. to 6.30pm. The severe rainfall at Lasalgaon on Wednesday morning caused authorities to suspend trading at 10.30am, ending the morning session prematurely.
Trading activities resumed at 3.30pm after the rainfall subsided.
Narendra Wadawane, the secretary of the Lasalgaon APMC, told TOI, "Around 4,900 quintals of onions, brought by farmers on 240 tractors and pick-ups, were auctioned in the first hour of the morning session before the rain started. The auction could not take place after 10.30am, but it resumed in the afternoon session at 3.30pm."
The combined trading volume for both sessions totalled 15,484 quintals.
Wednesday's trading at Lasalgaon APMC recorded an average wholesale price of Rs 1,375 per quintal, with prices ranging between Rs 700 and Rs 1,960 per quintal.
APMC officials reported that onion arrivals decreased from an average of 15,000 quintals to 7,000 quintals on Monday and Tuesday, causing the average wholesale price at Lasalgaon to rise from Rs 1,150 per quintal on Saturday to Rs 1,375 per quintal on Wednesday.
