Tearful jokes on Twitter as onion prices approach Rs100

With onions retailing at record prices of around Rs80 a kilogramme - and amid reports that the staple vegetable may cross the Rs100 mark - people, including the Twitterati, have been reduced to creating grim humour on the topic.

In Jamshedpur, onions are being given free with the purchase of car and truck tyres by a tyre seller to protest the rise in the prices.

On Twitter too, people were tweeting their reactions to the price rise that has brought tears to the eyes of many.

From angry to hilarious to witty, tweets with #Onion was trending on the social media site.

Indian onions are now the "most expensive" in the world, say traders. Onions from China and Pakistan onions, which some traders have already placed orders for and are likely to arrive in 15 days, may ease the situation.

Delhi may be the only major metro to escape because the state government has been intervening in the markets, selling onions at Rs35-40 per kg through government outlets. Other states like Maharashtra are far from following suit, allowing onions to be sold at almost double the wholesale prices.

Congress-ruled Delhi goes to elections in November. In 1989, the then BJP-ruled Delhi state government was famously voted out on the back of the electorate's anger at high onion prices. Onion's century has come at a first clip.

Retail prices were around Rs20 only two months ago.

A weak crop, partly thanks to damage caused by heavy rains in major producing areas like Nasik, and price expectations that are as yet discounting new supplies are pushing onions to the Rs 100 per kg territory.

Retail prices had climbed to Rs100/kg in December 2010 too. But wholesalers point out that market conditions this time are more forbidding for consumers because wholesale prices have reached never-seen high levels. Wholesale prices have risen to Rs47/kg in the principal wholesale markets of Maharashtra, the biggest onion producer.

Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has, however, ruled out a ban on onion exports, saying a ban would do "injustice to onion famers".