Rates crashed right when my rabi onion was ready. Is it better to sell now or hold in storage and wait?
Should I sell onion (pyaaz) at harvest or store it during a price crash in Maharashtra?
VVitthal More5mo ago · 242 views
4 Answers
🌾Farmer.in Krishi TeamExpert ✓5mo ago
This depends on your variety, curing quality and how much storage loss you can take. Only a well cured dark red rabi onion stored in a good ventilated chawl can be held for several months, and even then storage losses from rotting, sprouting and weight loss commonly run into a noticeable share of the lot, so holding poor quality kharif onion is risky. Rabi onion prices often recover in the months after monsoon when fresh kharif supply is short, so storage can pay if your quality is good and you have the holding capacity. Do not store doubles, thick necks or bruised bulbs, sell those first. Track daily rates on the Agmarknet portal and Lasalgaon mandi trend before deciding, and consider selling in lots rather than all at once to average the price.
DDattatray Shinde5mo ago
Last year I held my whole lot waiting for a peak and lost a lot to rot. Now I sell part at harvest to cover costs and store only my best cured bulbs.
BBapu Ghule5mo ago
Do not forget your own cost of holding. If you take a loan against the crop or rent space, the interest and the weight loss eat into any price rise. I worked out my break even price first, and only hold if the expected recovery clearly beats that, otherwise selling early is the safer call.
TTukaram Khairnar4mo ago
From our side near Pimpalgaon, selling in small lots over several weeks worked better than waiting for one big peak. The peak is hard to catch and arrivals jump the moment rates rise. Averaging across mandi visits gave me a steadier return than gambling on a single high day.