Ministry of Agriculture: Merchants Deliberately Creating Onion S...

In light of the recent rise in onion prices, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issued a harsh statement yesterday accusing industry traders of deliberately creating an onion shortage.The usual wholesale price for onions in Israel is NIS 2.5-3 per kilo, but now the wholesale price is increasing day by day, and last week the wholesale price was NIS 4.7, and on Sunday it rose to NIS 5.2 per kilogram. Monday rose further, to 5.6 shekels, and yesterday has been reached NIS 7 per kilo, and rising.In response to the traders' moves, the Ministry of Agriculture announced that they will import onions from elsewhere in order to force the traders to lower the prices. The problem is that right now there is a severe onion shortage in Europe and countries, like Holland, that are usually exporters to Israel, now have to import their own onions. Because of this, the Ministry of Agriculture is skeptical that it will be able to successfully import more onions. The MOA has stated that this shortage does not justify the rise in onion prices in Israel, where the farmers have plenty of onions available in shortage.The Ministry of Agriculture hopes that within a month, when the local crop from the Arava and the Jordan Valley begins to enter Israeli markets, the shortage will moderate and the prices will fall.