The prices of vegetables including onions shot up after the floods, which damaged tens of thousands of acres under onion crop in the province. Meanwhile, red chilli crop also suffered huge loss in lower Sindh due to recent winter rains and shortage of water at the time of sowing.

Nasarpur, the biggest onion market in Matiyari district of Sindh, has begun receiving freshly-harvested crop.

According to reports collected from onion growers in Nasarpur, a truck load of 120 bags with 100kg of onion each, which was selling at Rs2,60,000-Rs2,70,000 two months back, is now being traded at a much higher rate amid reports of below target production.

“The present rate of a truck load of 120 bags is Rs6,60,000-Rs6,70,000 (Rs55-Rs56 per kg),” says onion grower Noor Mohammad Memon of Matiyari district.

Giving break-up of sowing cost of onion and its profitability , he said “The average cost of production of 120 bags of onion is Rs80,000-Rs85,000. The new onion crop selling at wholesale markets at such an exorbitant rate has brought windfall to farmers.”

Having learnt about arrival of new onion crop in Nasarpur, traders from Balochistan, Punjab and Khyber Puktunkhwa rushed there to procure the commodity for their areas reeling under serious onion shortages, said officials in the Matiyari district agriculture department.

They claimed that traders and commission agents from different provinces were sending around 100 truck loads daily to their provinces from this district alone.

Sindh and Balochistan are the major onion growing provinces and account for cultivation on 52,000 hectares and 32,000 hectares, producing 6,90,000 tons and 600,000 tons annually respectively.

“Because of huge damage to onion crop due to floods in Sindh and Balochistan, comparatively smaller quantity of the crop is available in the market, resulting in sharp rise in its prices,” said Haji Shahjahan, president of the Wholesale Vegetable Welfare Association Sabzi Mandi, Karachi.

He believes that until Eidul Azha onion prices in Sindh will not ease from the current levels, rather may shoot up further.

Red chilli Production of this crop has also posted a sharp decline this time as it first suffered from water shortage at the time of its sowing and was later hit by rains when the crop was ready for harvesting.

Lower chilli output in the province has increased its prices in the wholesale and retail markets, mainly in Judia Bazaar in Karachi.

Sindh accounts for over 65 per cent share in the country's overall chilli production with an estimated 80,000-90,000 tons produced annually.

Chilli is cultivated in Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Samaro, Jhuddo, Naukot, Digri, Kot Ghulam Mohammad, Mirwah Gorchani, Shadi Palli, Pithoro, Khipro, Sangar and Kunri town.

A target of 43,000 hectares was set for red chilli sowing and 86,000 tons for production for the current year. But chilli growers of Umerkot, Mirpurkhas and Badin districts say that due to shortage of water, chilli was cultivated on 20-25 per cent less area which was later damaged by heavy downpour during the last week of October. The damage to the crop was estimated at around 40 per cent. The growers, however, estimate a fall of 30-35 per cent in this year's production.

Chilli farmers and traders suffered enormous financial losses as their tens of thousands of gunny bags stuffed with tons of chilli lying in the open was damaged in the rain.

“With reports of chilli harvest, traders and exporters reached the chilli- growing areas. But, much of their procured crop was damaged in the rain that hit lower Sindh while they were making arrangement for its transportation to markets in cities,” said Santosh Kumar, a chilli grower in Kunri town of Umerkot district.

According to reports, over the last few days prices of red chilli in Kunri market have gone up by Rs2,000 per 40kg to Rs8,500, up from Rs6,500.”

The mandi is getting average 18,00-19,000 bags, according to officials in the Umerkot agriculture EDO office.

Hussain Bux, DDO agriculture Umerkot district, told this scribe that usually Chilli picking season begins from July every year but this year it started from September because of late sowing.

Officials in the provincial agriculture department's statistics wing estimate that this year red chilli output will be around 2,50,000 bags (40 kg each bag) against the target of 6,00,000 bags or so. This year 1,60,000-1,70,000 bags have landed in the market till November 9.

The chilli growers are happy that their produce has fetched good price this year, but they also point out problems that continue to hurt the crop potential.

They say that reduced and late availability of irrigation water, chilli import by local traders and lack of chilli crop development policy are the major snags in tapping the economic potential of the crop.