Bhubaneswar, Aug. 8: The state government today expressed its helplessness to contain the price of onion, which is now selling at Rs 30 a kg.

"The state produces only one-fourth of its onion requirement. Whatever onion has been produced this year in the state has been exhausted. Now, we are depending on other states such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh," food supplies and consumer welfare minister Surya Narayan Patro told The Telegraph.

The government had announced on August 2 that it would make onion available at select outlets at Rs 17 a kg and had even threatened to take action against hoarders. It had said that the sellers should not charge more than Re 1 above the purchase price.

"There has been crop failure in Madhya Pradesh, while the crop has not been harvested in Andhra Pradesh. So it is not just Odisha, the entire country is depending on Maharashra at the moment. This crisis is not specific to Odisha. The entire country is facing the problem. At some places, onion is selling at Rs 35 a kg," said Patro.

The minisyer said the purchase price at the source point was now between Rs 26,000 and Rs 27,000 a quintal.

"After taking the transport cost into account, the selling price in Odisha comes to around Rs 30 per kg," he said, adding that he had asked his department officials to sell onion at the government outlets at a price not above Rs 30 a kg.

The rise in onion prices following the soaring price of tomato has hit the consumers hard. Last week, tomato was selling at between Rs 80 and Rs 100 a kg in the retail market.

"We have no role to play in the rise in onion price. The price of onion has increased at the source points," said secretary of Odisha Byabasayee Mahasangha Sudhakar Panda.

Traders apprehend that the current high prices would continue till November.

"The winter crop from Nashik will reach the state in November. Besides, onions grown in various parts of the state will also enter the market in the winter and only then will the price stabilise," said Panda.

Both farmers and traders said the state was suffering because of the lack of adequate cold storages. The state had witnessed distress sale of onions in March. However, the state government had attributed distress sale to over-production.