Shallot prices flare up in Tiruchi because of supply crunch

Shallot, which usually costs around ₹60 a kg, sold ₹140 to ₹160 a kg on Thursday in various vegetable shops across Tiruchi. | Photo Credit: M. MOORTHY Price of shallot has surged to an unprecedented level in Tiruchi with the wholesale prices averaging about ₹160 per kg and the retail prices touching ₹170 a kg due to short supply.The price of high-quality shallot was about ₹40 a kg until first half of September. The price began to shoot up in the last week of September. It went beyond ₹60 a kg that week. It crossed ₹80 a kg in the first week of October. It went up further and has reached an all time high now.While one kg of high grade shallot was sold ₹160 a kg in Gandhi Market on Wednesday, medium grade shallot sold ₹150 and low grade ₹140 a kg. In the retail vegetable and grocery stores, the traders quoted ₹170 a kg of shallot. One bag (50 kg) of good quality shallot was sold for ₹7,000 in the wholesale market on Wednesday as against ₹2,000 a bag in the first week of September.Perambalur has been a major supply centre for shallot to the Tiruchi market. In addition to it, wholesale traders source shallot from Palladam and some other parts of Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Dindigul district. The traders source shallot from Mysuru and Kollegal in Karnataka. The wholesale market in Tiruchi receives about 100 tonnes of shallot in normal condition. But the supply has come down to below 50 tonnes. The supply from Perambalur has taken a severe hit because of rain when farmers were about to harvest the produce. The market now receives supply only from Alanthurai, where farmers have stocked up the shallot, which was harvested about three to four months ago. “We have hardly received shallot from the supply centres. The crop raised on several acres has been hit by northeast monsoon rain, which advanced by a week. It has severely impacted the supply,” said P. Sudhakar of Sri Kalaivani Traders, a wholesale onion trader in Tiruchi.Admitting that the prices of shallot have surged to an unprecedented level this season, he said that there was a season when one bag of shallot (50 kg) was sold for ₹7,000 in the wholesale market, he had not come across the retail prices crossing ₹150 a kg.Mr. Sudhakar said that the rain had taken a break now. It would facilitate farmers to harvest the shallot in dry conditions. The prices might come down a bit in a week. However, the prices would continue to rule high during the Deepavali season as the demand would go up substantially. Published - October 28, 2026 09:03 pm IST