U Aung Htoo, however, knows full well the value of the average onion. He had a warehouse full of onions, valued at around K3 million. Those onions are now costing him money, given that he can’t export them due to the current COVID-19 restrictions.Onions are an essential part of Myanmar cuisine. Whether it is to fry with garlic to make curry paste, or to slice into a tea-leaf salad, most people don’t consider where they come from and how they end up on the dinner plate.
In fact, U Aung Htoo will need to pay around K150,000 to hire staff to remove the onions and clean the warehouse.
“The total amount of onions I need to get rid of is about 5,000 viss (8 tonnes). I can’t do it all by myself, so I need to hire some workers to take care of them,” said U Aung Htoo.
The downturn in the export market comes as Myanmar recorded its highest ever sales in onions, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce. The country exported just over 100,000 tonnes, earning over $48 million, for the 2019-2020 financial year.
The local onion price has hit a low of K100 per viss (1.6 kg), with no interested buyers.
“If I sell them for that price it’s like giving them away for free. That price won’t even cover the costs for transporting them to market,” he said.
The onions in U Aung Htoo’s warehouse were grown in November and December of 2019, and harvested in March and April of 2020. Some farmers initially started selling their onions, but as prices declined most held on to their stock.