Article from WeChat public account:Wish Think Tank (ID:zhczyj)< span class = "text-remarks">, of: aromatic Xie, from FIG title: Oriental IC
Recently, Indian onions have received worldwide attention.
On November 4th, Spain’s “National News” published a report entitled “The Indian Onion Crisis Affects Half the World”, saying that this year’s floods and monsoon precipitation in India led to a reduction in onion production, a sharp drop in stocks by 35%, which in turn led to price spikes. 2 times to 3 times. The life of the Indian people was seriously affected and protests broke out.
The picture shows the citizens of Calcutta in India rushing to buy onions. Source: Vision China
At the end of September, the Indian government announced a ban on the export of onions, and the onion crisis quickly spread to neighboring countries such as Bangladesh and Nepal.
India is one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of onions. Exports reached 2 million tons in 2018, and now, “no onion can leave India.”
What happened to the Indian onion? Why is small onion so powerful?
Crisis
Since August, Indian onion prices have risen steadily from the initial price of 25 rupees per kilogram (about RMB 2.5 ), rising to 60 to 80 rupees per kilogram (about In the case of RMB 6 to 8 yuan , some places even reach 100 rupees (about 10 yuan). Less than a year ago, onion prices in parts of India were once as low as 1 rupee per kilogram (about RMB 0.1).
Truva Mjol (about 1500 yuan) driver Kumar (Senthil Kumar) said that now only Can afford half of the amount of onions he usually buys for a family of four, because even the worst quality onions require 60 rupees About RMB 6) One kilogram.
The picture shows the interviewed Kumar
Kummar said, “This is too difficult, we can’t do anything. Now we only use onions when it is unavoidable.”
In the meantime, the Indian government has urgently placed 50,000 tons of stock onions into the market, setting a minimum export price to 850 US dollars (about RMB 5,952) per ton, but with little success.
In order to alleviate the impact of inflation and onion production on the national population, on September 29, the Indian government announced a ban on the export of onions, and the onions of the cars were pulled back from the Indian border. At the beginning of October, the price of onion per kilogram fell back, slowly falling below 60 rupees (about 6 yuan) , down to 55 rupees < Span class="text-remarks" label="Remarks">(about RMB 5.5).
But the situation is still not very optimistic, some analysts pointed out that it is expected that the price of onions will be substantially reduced by the end of November.
Onions are forbidden to export, and they also cause dissatisfaction among businessmen and farmers.
Onion supplier Sudam (Sudam Bhidke) said, “This sudden decision has affected market transactions, the government should advance Notify us at least one week.”
The picture is for the onion supplier Sudam to interview
Farmer farmer who grows onionsCard
The picture is for the farmer Madhuka to be interviewed
In the onion growing areas of central India, farmers even blocked the highways and used their protests to vent their anger. Everyone felt that they had been forgotten by the Modi government and accused him of failing to honor his promise to help the farmers. The peasant Madhuka mentioned above also mentioned in the interview that the peasant’s loan has been put on hold and bluntly said, “This is a lie.” (Note: In June of this year, Modi, who was re-elected, reiterated his commitment to double the income of farmers by 2022.)
affecting neighbors
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India is self-sufficient and its export ban has also induced onion crises in other countries.
The first and foremost is the country around India.
75% of the annual onion imports in Bangladesh (about 1.1 million tons) are from India. Now, this densely populated country is being plagued by India’s onion export ban. Since the summer, the price of onions in the market has soared sevenfold in a few months and doubled again in the last week of September.
A street vendor told reporters that people were angry at the price of the onion he had made, and that he was a “bandit”. He felt bad in his heart and stopped selling onions. There are not a few vegetable vendors with this experience, and onions can not be seen on many streets in Dhaka.
The picture shows the onions in the wholesale market in Mumbai, India. Source: Vision China
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directly complained that the ban had affected her table. “I don’t know why you suddenly stopped. I have to tell my chef to cook with onions,” she hopes. India can issue a notice early in the future before making a decision to ban exports.
However, no food can replace the taste of onions, because almost every type of curry needs it.
The manager of a restaurant, Mohamed Bilash, said, “If you don’t put onions, you can’t be Biani (Biryani, risotto)“, however, “onions are now like gold in the food market”, so he had to reduce the onion pieces in this famous stew.
Nepal has also been affected. In 2018, Nepal imported about 170,000 tons of onions from India, but this year it has disappeared. Bijaya Shresta, spokesperson for the largest fruit and vegetable market in Kathmandu, capital of Nepal, said, “We can’t produce onions in the factory, and local production is very low.” “Our only option is to eat less onions”.
The price of local onions in Sri Lanka has increased by 50%.
In the face of the current shortage of onions, these countries have to choose to import from other countries, and Nepal and Bangladesh have chosen China.
However, transportation problems are plaguing these two countries. Nepalese vegetable seller Tara said that Chinese onions are “big and colorful”, but it takes about 25 days to ship it.It takes only a few days, and for this perishable commodity, time is crucial to maintaining the taste.
In the long trading chain, the loss rate of onions is amazing. Source: China Youth Daily
Sri Lankan importers are forced to look for alternative supplies from Egypt or Turkey, but they also have to bear the losses caused by inconvenient transportation.
It’s not just India’s neighbors, Dhaka’s trader Idris believes that since India’s ban on onion exports, “onion prices in other parts of Asia and Europe have started to rise”.
Onion Complex
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Why is onion so important to India?
The first is the climate impact.
India, facing the sea, most of the region is in the tropical monsoon zone and is one of the hottest countries in the world. The hot climate causes people’s appetite to drop, so local people are used to maintaining appetite with peppers, aniseed food, and onions.
In the long-term consumption of onions, the Indian people found that onions are not only delicious, but also have certain health care effects, such as sterilization, prevention of colds, refreshing, and alleviating indigestion. When the summer heat continues, some people will put a few peeled onions in their pockets, which is said to absorb the body’s heat and cool down the heat.
In addition, the Indian people love curry, the curry tastes too heavy, and the onion slices can neutralize the taste.
“When I think about how far the onion has traveled, I can enter my dish today, I really should pray.
This neglected little miracle, the fragile skin was removed from the wet cutting board, and the layers were arranged in layers. As the blade slipped, the onion cracked down on the cutting board. This formation.
I never complain about onions, it makes me tears.
The tears flow just right, for some small and forgotten things.
When we sit at the table and eat, commenting on the texture of the meat or the taste of the spices, we never care about the looming onions.
It’s already broken, it’s broken, but it’s a glorious tradition: to sacrifice for others.
(Note: “Remote distance” refers to – it is said that onions originated in India, then from Egypt into Greece and Italy, and then traveled Whole Europe.)
All of the above can tell how important onions are to the Indian people. According to statistics, only New Delhi consumes at least 400 tons of onions per day, and at least 10,000 tons of supply per day in the country can meet the demand. Therefore, the Indian government would rather ban exports and take the lead in securing supply in the domestic market.
political vegetables
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This title is not just a talk.
In 1980, during the election period, onion prices soared, and the People’s Party in power (Janata Party) Controlling the price is unfavorable, and the public complains. Indira Gandhi, the leader of the opposition party of the opposition party, seized the opportunity to launch a political offensive. When she participated in the election, she did not wear the jewels of jewels. Instead, she used the onions to string the necklaces around her neck, letting the voters think that their personal interests were damaged and shouting the exit number: The government that controls the price of onions has no right to control the regime. The final election was successful.
The picture shows India’s first female prime minister, Nehru’s daughter Indira Gandhi. Source: 澎湃News
In October 1998, onions rose to 42 rupees per kilogram, triggering massive street protests and robberies, and directly led to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s slamming in several local council elections, including New Delhi and Rajasthan. downfall.
In October 2005, the price of Indian onions rose from 15 rupees per kilogram to 30 rupees to 35 rupees. The crisis broke out again and the scope of the spread was unprecedented.
On the 22nd, the Hindustan Times, with the title “Tears from Onions”, criticized the government for not paying attention to the national economy and people’s livelihood. “Asian Century” also on the front page with the title “onion price increase, India tears”, called on the government to take measures against the current situation as soon as possible to stabilize prices.
On the 23rd, the City of New Delhi announced that all government vegetable shops are required to sell onions at a fixed price of Rs 11.25 per kg in the form of subsidies, while resolutely investigating and cracking down on black market transactions. But in the government vegetable shops that are priced, the quality of onions is terrible and there are very few customers. On the private food stalls across the road, the price of onions is still 30 rupees per kilogram. Since then, some people have stolen onions in the market.
On the 25th, demonstrations broke out in New Delhi. The angry people hung onions around their necks, overhead, and shouted slogans, expressing strong dissatisfaction. The opposition party also threatened to take violent action if it could not contain the price in the next few days.
On October 25, 2005, Indian people put onions on their heads and protested the rise in onion prices in New Delhi. Source: Global Times
The Indian government announced that it would immediately import 2,000 tons and 650 tons of onions from China and Pakistan, respectively. This is also the first time in Indian history to import onions from abroad.
In October 2010, the onion crisis broke out again. In November, the government announced the ban on onion exports, and the ban was escalated at the end of December, extending from the previous month to an indefinite period.
But still can’t stop the people’s parade protests. The Indian media said that the opposition party called on the people to launch the “onion revolution”, voted to “overthrow” Singh’s Congress Party government, and launched 20,000 demonstrations, leading to New Delhi. The region is paralyzed.
The repeated outbreak of onion crisis seems to have slowly exhausted the patience of the government.
In the 2013 onion price hike, the retail price of onions in some places rose from Rs 20 per kg to Rs 100 per kg. Some people filed a public interest lawsuit with the Supreme Court, demanding that the government regulate the price of vegetables such as onions. The prosecution was finally dismissed by the Supreme Court. The judge’s “Buddha” proposal is “Do not eat onions for two months, and the price will naturally fall.”
August 22, 2013, in Amritsar, Punjab, India, the people held photos and onions of Prime Minister Singh, protesting the soaring price of onions. Source: China Youth Daily
Why is the onion crisis closely related to political ups and downs?
Because, the onion crisis affects the food safety of the poor in India and the vital interests of the vast majority of farmers. These people are behind the ballot.
In Maharashtra, for example, although there is a well-known financial center in Mumbai, agriculture still dominates, although agriculture contributes only 12% of the region’s gross domestic product, but more than 65% in the region. The population is engaged in agricultural work, and these people have profoundly affected the results of the election to a certain extent.
natural disasters
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Why did India frequently break the onion crisis?
Normally, India’s February-April is a dry season, followed by a rainy season in June, and precipitation peaks around November.
However, this year’s Indian monsoon rain season is late, and the strongest sunshine in June did not rain, which led to an abnormal drought, the highest in nearly five years. According to Indian media reports, Chennai, the fourth largest city in India, once dried up in the four reservoirs of the month. The arid climate affects the harvest of onions.
Unexpectedly, the rain that has come late has been raging in India since September, and news of floods has been heard from south to north. According to data released by the Indian Ministry of the Interior, as of the end of September, thousands of people have died from disasters caused by heavy rainfall.
September 30, Patna, Bihar, India, a man standing in the water for help. Source: Xinhua News Agency | Reuters
The pouring rain has soaked many onions and also affected the supply of onions with short shelf life.
However, climate effects are only the appearance, and the deep-seated ills in India are fundamental.
Let’s look at the story of “An Onion Tour” reported by The Economist. In the village of Kalangan, Maharashtra, India, Garam Daveka has 6 hectares of land and can harvest 4 onions a year. He does not have refrigeration equipment, and the harvested onions can only be stored in wooden baskets in shacks. In hot weather, the onions that leave the land will rot within 15 days, so they need to be disposed of quickly.
After grading, Daveka’s best onions were loaded onto an old trailer, and along with the neighbor’s crops, bumped on the bumpy road for hours to reach the market town of La Salgaon, 32 km away. The Indian government stipulates that all agricultural products must be traded in a government-managed market. Farmers are required to pay a management fee equal to 1% of sales to the market and pay a 4% commission to the sales agent.
At 9 in the morning, more than 300 sales agents came to the market to pick up the goods. Due to the lack of a modern food processing industry, some of the inferior onions that could be used to make sauces were often discarded. Thereafter, a batch of re-classified and packaged onions will arrive in each city, where they will be sold by distributors for a 20% increase to retailers and restaurants.
From picking to being sold in the market, onions must be loaded, sorted and repacked at least four times, which not only increases costs, but also has an incredible rate of loss – more than one-third of the weight loss due to breakage and dryness. According to a report by the Bank of India, about 40% of the fruits and vegetables produced in India rot before they are sold due to backward transportation and storage facilities.
In addition, some middlemen maliciously hoarded onions to control pricesAnd the purpose of obtaining huge profits. These processes have pushed up the price of onions.
It can be seen that the beneficiaries of onion price increase do not include growers, “farmers have never received fair treatment”, “intermediaries, traders and retailers have the final say”, the farmer Krishna Hiraman Rawat (Krishna Hiraman Rawat) said to the New York Times.
Daveka also said that there is no more “money” on the growing of onions, the cost of rural labor is doubling year by year, and the workers are very lazy, “playing cards all day.” In fact, in addition to the inefficiency of workers, backward farming practices and agricultural infrastructure are also important reasons why Indian onion production has not increased.
India’s National Horticultural Association data shows that India produces an average of 14.2 tons of onions per hectare, much lower than China’s 22 tons.
The natural disasters and man-made disasters come together, and the onion crisis will happen every few years. It is not surprising.
Vicious circle
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The Indian government has taken some measures against the current onion crisis.
In addition to the urgent placement of 50,000 inventories and the ban on exports, the government has also cracked down on onion hoarding. The stocks of retailers and wholesalers are strictly limited, and the excess must be sold.
But the New York Times pointed out that these measures have helped consumers, but they may also exacerbate long-standing disputes between the Modi government and farmers. As mentioned above, under the circumstance of the middlemen, the price increase of onions did not bring extra income to the farmers. Now the government forcibly controls the price, which further reduces their income.
Agricultural associations threatened that the core issue surrounding the election was the problem of farmers and young people. Therefore, the government’s bankruptcy of farmers is equivalent to digging graves.
The picture shows the Prime Minister of India Modi. Source: Xinhua News Agency | Faxin
Therefore, the Indian government’s measures have created a cycle: onions have cut production and prices due to bad weather and lack of infrastructure, the government has imposed export restrictions and cracked down on hoarding behavior, prices have stabilized through new harvests, and oversupply has led to price bottoming. The peasants sought government assistance, the government relaxed the export ban… and then it was a new cycle.
And some of the decision-making behind this is worth pondering.
Agricultural trade expert Chandrasekhar said, “In the period of surplus, the government is eager to spend millions of rupees to buy agricultural products from farmers to show support. Expenditure to stimulate price increases could have been used for construction. Storage facilities, but the government is not keen to solve problems.”
As early as the onion crisis in 2010, Professor Gayati Goss, a professor of economics at Nehru University, had proposed how to deal with rising food prices, and proposed to the then Singh government to learn from other countries and to learn about the country and the people. Establish a new set of long-term price management mechanisms and measures for food, vegetables, fruits and milk. After all, many of India’s population are still struggling near the poverty line, and the government has a responsibility to provide them with basic food and subsidies.
The Singh government did not do it and stepped down. Can the Modi government do it?
(Intern Zeng Linhao also contributes to this article.)
References:
1. The crisis in India is affecting neighboring countries |Reference news,2019.11.06
2. The political storm behind an onion|China Youth Daily, 2019.10.17
3. Onion prices are soaring! India: An onion is not allowed to export | Feng Guochuan, World Wide Web, 2011.1.09
4. India’s “onion skyrocketing” provokes public grievances | Zhang Wenzhi, China Youth Daily, 2014.1.22
5. India: Unbearable to bear the weight of onions | People’s Daily, seventh edition of 2005.11.08
6. The onion crisis plagued the Indian government | Chen Jihui, Global Times, 2005.10.26 fifth edition
7. Onions Indian political vegetables|World Wide Web, 2011.01.09
8. US media: “Onion Crisis” makes the whole of India cry | Reference News, 2013.10.31
9. Onions become a nightmare for the Indian government. The price of onions is out of control or the party is stepping down | China Securities Journal, 2013.9.14
10. The price of printed goods has increased by the price of onions 7 times a year ago, the onion has caused the government to step down | Zhang Le, Beijing News, 2011.01.15
11. Why did India ban onion exports and limit hoarding behavior in 2019? |Foresight Network,2019.10.11
12. India’s 2019 monsoon rains hit a record high in 25 years | Xinhua News Agency, 2011.10.02
13. India banned onion exports to stabilize prices, and the fried rice in neighboring countries has changed its taste|Internet News,2019.10.05
Article from WeChat public account:Wish Think Tank (ID:zhczyj) OF: Xie aryl