Onion exports have almost come to a halt as the rains have cut off supply lines from Balochistan. Vegetable exporters told Business Recorder here on Friday that due to damaged transportation system, the country was facing supply problem as about 800 tonnes of onion worth Rs 8.29 million per week could not reach Karachi port, which might further shoot up in the wake of another spell of monsoon rains.
Pakistan, with a previous capacity to export 1,000 tonnes worth Rs 10.37 million onion per week, could now hardly manage to export 200 tonnes worth Rs 2.07 million of onion per week, said the sources. They said Pakistan had so far exported almost 2,000 tonnes of onion worth Rs 20.74 million to Sri Lanka, Dubai and Muscat.
Sources said the seasonal rains had also played havoc in the onion fields and stores in Balochistan where a large chunk of the crop was damaged due to lack of proper storage facilities.
They said this would not only give the country's overall exports a setback worth millions of rupees, but would also increase the rates in local markets where onion was being sold at between rupees seven and Rs 10 per kilogram.
In view of bumper crop in Blochistan and absence of Indian competitors from the international market, the exporters were expecting good return, but now, they said, Pakistan would not be able to export 1,000 tons of onion per week in the days to come.
Last year, monsoon rains badly affected the onion crop in Sanghar, Tando Allayar, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and some areas of interior Sindh and Balochistan, bringing Islamabad on the importing front to meet the local demand of 3,000 tonnes a day.
It is worth mentioning that in 2006-07, Pakistan set 2.1 million-ton target for onion production on an estimated 126.3 thousands hectares of land, but the torrential rains and the resultant standing water in fields made the country to face a 14.3 percent dip in output.