Jamaica only produces about seven per cent of the onions the local market demands while the remaining 93 per cent is filled by imports, The Gleaner has learnt.

After seeing prices skyrocket to as far as $300 per pound in local markets and supermarkets this summer, consumers should expect onion and potato prices to drop in time for the new school term.

Prices have already started to trend down in local markets. Earlier this week, onions were fetching a high of $100 per pound in the Coronation Market in downtown Kingston and a low of $60 per pound, down from a high of $300 just last week.

Onion supply has been tight on the international markets and local production, though increased in the last quarter, has not been able to fill the shortage.

"In India and the UK (United Kingdom), their crops have not been as expected and the US crops are not doing well as thought so the US is now importing more out of Mexico," explains production and marketing analyst in the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Derrick Deslandes.

Different dilemma

Irish potatoes have been suffering a somewhat different dilemma, Deslandes said. Its shortage has not been influenced by supply problems on the world market but a higher price being placed on the produce by the United States and Canada. Most local players import their produce from the US and Canada.

According to Deslandes, the prices of US and Canadian potatoes are currently 50 per cent higher than those being produced by Europe. A 40lb box of potatoes costs about US$11 in the United States.

In addition, he said the amount of potatoes that can be packaged in a box in the United States and Canada is significantly less than that packaged in Europe. Containers that would normally hold 65,000lb of potatoes are restricted to 32,000lb. Therefore, it costs more to ship the produce. The unit cost per container also increases.

Price increase

"So you are in a position where it is more expensive to buy the actual potato and more expensive to ship it," Deslandes said.

That has caused local players to seek produce from Europe,but it takes three weeks to reach local markets as opposed to three days from the United States.

But the situation will improve by next month, he assured.

"By September, we expect prices to go down to $40 or $50 per pound," he says.

In the meantime, vendors like Shane Walters remain a little worried about how the increased price of both types of produce has affected sales, which dropped significantly this summer.

According to her, vendors have had no choice but to sell onions at the price they have been as a 50lb bag of onions is being sold for as much as $6,500 per bag.

"People a come buy all like half-pound and so now, 'cause it too expensive," she says.

Some vendors have been dropping their prices because of the lessened demand, but they will lose money.

gareth.manning@gleanerjm.com