China Making Inroads Into Export Markets By Exporting Onions Similar To Indian One

To make inroads in the traditional export markets of India, where consumers give first preference to Indian onion, China has started promoting a variety, which is similar to Indian onions. Confident that the consumers in these countries will stick with Indian onions unless they become too expensive, Indian exporters hardly feel threatened by this move by China.

India is the second largest producer of onions in the world following China. However, it is the top onion exporter, occasionally losing its top position to the Netherlands, which usually ranks second in export of the bulb.

According to Agricultural Produce Export Development Authority ( APEDA), India has exported 16.66 lakh tonne onion worth Rs 1,966.67 crore during the year 2012-13. Malaysia, Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Singapore and Kuwait are the traditional markets for the red and pungent Indian onions.

During last three to four years, China, has started promoting one of its variety, which is similar to Indian onion in colour, in India's traditional export markets.

RP Gupta, director of the National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF) confirmed, "China grows a crop similar to our red variety. However, their taste and shape are different as the weather and soil conditions are not the same."

Indian exporters are least worried about this move by China. Firstly, they are confident that onion from no other country can beat Indian onion in taste and other quality parameters. Trade sources say that the order of preference of the traditional markets in the descending order is India, Pakistan, Iran, Egypt and China.

Unless the difference between Indian onion and that from other exporting countries is more than $100/tonne, the traditional markets prefer to buy Indian onion due to its taste and appearance. "China can enter into our traditional export markets only if the Indian onion becomes too expensive during June to September in the domestic market, making exports difficult," said Ajit Shah, president, Onion Exporters Association.

Secondly, the peak season for export of Indian onions is from January to March, when hardly any country, barring Egypt, which offers a small quantity, is present in the market.

Harvesting of Indian onion gets over in June, while the Chinese onion comes from June onward. Thus, China cannot compete with Indian onion during its peak export season.

Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com