Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 6
By Matanat Nasibova – Trend:
One of the main reasons for an increase in prices for onions in Azerbaijan, is export of this agricultural product to neighboring Turkey, head of the Azerbaijani Fruit and Vegetable Producers and Exporters Association Bashir Guliyev told Trend.
“Onion prices have always been low in the country’s consumer market and the same situation was observed in 2018,” he said.
"Neighboring Turkey had a bad harvest of onions due to adverse weather conditions,” Guliyev said. “As a result, Turkey imported more onions from Azerbaijan. Accordingly, there was a certain deficit in the Azerbaijani domestic market because besides Turkey, supply volumes to Ukraine also increased."
“Low prices for onions are unprofitable, first of all, to farmers, as they incur losses,” he said.
"The prime cost of onions is about 35 Azerbaijani qepik (coins), and, in fact, onions must be sold for at least 45 qepik for the farmer to get profit,” Guliyev said. “At the same time, the export price of onions must also increase taking into account transportation, packaging, warehousing and other expenses."
Presently, prices for onions in the country’s consumer market range from 0.7 to 0.8 manats per kilogram.
(1.7 AZN = 1 USD on Feb. 6)
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