Onion export kicks off after three years

ISLAMABAD, Onion export from the country has kicked off after almost three years as a result of healthy crop harvested this season, private News channel reported Wednesday. Exporters say the country has had a `good crop' this season and the statistics compelled them to export the commodity in the international market. "Foreign buyers were eyeing Pakistani markets for bulk buying because its (onion) is reasonably priced and of high- quality," said a leading onion exporter. He said that India is running short of onions these days as the crop cultivated there was not sufficient to fulfill its domestic needs. "Some 250,000 metric tons onions would be exported by this season," exporters said, adding that 50,000 metric tons of the commodity would be shipped to different destinations every week. The country produces 0.8 to 1 million metric tons of onion annually, of which near 600,000 tons were consumed locally, the channel added.