Analysis of Spatio-Temporal Behaviour of Arrivals and Prices in Major Onion Markets of India

Abstract

The present study was an attempt to examine the behaviour of arrivals and prices of onion in major markets of India over the period from 2008 to 2022. The entire investigation relies on data obtained from secondary sources. Data on monthly wholesale prices and arrivals of selected markets was gathered from Agmarknet, Directorate of Marketing & Inspection, Government of India. Six markets were selected purposively, of which one each market was from four top onion producing states (Lasalgaon, Bangalore, Indore and Ahmadabad) and two were from top consuming cities (Mumbai and Delhi). Various statistical measures were such as linear trend analysis, ratio to trend method of seasonality and coefficient of variation were used to examine trend, seasonality, and inter-year prices variation, respectively in onion arrivals and prices in the selected markets. The findings of the trend analysis indicate that all markets experienced a significant increase in both arrivals and prices throughout the study period, except for the Delhi market, which showed a negative trend in arrivals. The seasonality indices reveal that prices tended to be higher from the month of August to January, while they were lower from February to July. Interestingly, an inverse relationship between onion arrivals and prices could not be established.