Pakistani onion farmers and exporters are celebrating an unprecedented increase in exports over the past few months, an unlikely win at the cost of their counterparts across the border in India.
The South Asian nations are bitter rivals in myriad arenas, and are also major onion producers. India is also the world’s second-largest onion exporter after China, and is a dominant force in the global market, its produce often crowding out onions from smaller nations.
IN December, when India imposed an export ban due to a decline in local onion production, before national elections, Pakistani farmers and exporters made the most of a rare opportunity. In 2023, India exported nearly 2.5 million tonnes of onions. The world onion market had a gap — one that Pakistan partly filled.
Pakistan managed to export more than 220,000 tonnes of onions between December and March this year, which was a little more than its usual annual onion export volume.