The war in the Middle East involving Iran and Israel-US has cast its shadow on the export of perishable commodities like onions, sugar and fruits.
Nearly 150 containers of onions produced in Nashik and other parts of Maharashtra have been stranded at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) due to the ongoing war. The destination of these containers was mainly the Gulf cities, including Dubai. Approximately 4,500 tonnes of onions are inside these 150 stranded containers.
The Dubai market, a major hub for indian onion exports to the Middle East nations, has shut down due to the conflict. This has forced shipping lines to suspend movement.
This will certainly affect farmers as the onion rates will fall when ideally they should have fetched a good price as Ramadan month is going on. Bharat Dighole, president of the onion producer farmers organisation in Maharashtra, has demanded immediate subsidy of Rs 1,500 per quintal, waiving of port charges and a temporary procurement scheme till exports resume in order to protect the farmers.
The conflict has also affected sugar exports of India to the Gulf region, but this will ensure that there is more sugar available in India. Shipments of fruits like grapes and mangoes have also been stopped. Horticultural products are highly perishable, thus causing great concern to farmers and exporters too.
Nearly three hundred containers of grapes—some 3,900 tonnes—had been loaded into ships for export to the Middle East. Now this shipment will have to be offloaded and returned to local markets. Maruti Chavan, vice president of Maharashtra’s grape growers association, told regional media that the war will affect nearly 6,000 tonnes of grapes as these grapes will now have to be sold at local market rates.
According to reports, in the case of sugar, India had exported $405 million worth of sugar to countries in the Middle East last year, which could be affected due to war this year.
