Afghanistan halts onion exports to meet domestic demand

Kabul, June 18 (IANS) Afghanistan has halted the export of onions to meet the demands of its internal markets as the prices have recently surged.

In a statement on Friday, the Chamber of Agriculture and Livestock said that due to drought across the country, onion crops have dropped which has also caused a spike in prices in the country, reports TOLO News.

"The export of onions overseas has stopped currently because the price of 7 kg is 200 Afs in Afghanistan now," said Mirwais Hajizada, a member of the Chamber.

Afghanistan was exporting onions to Pakistan, India, Russia and Central Asian nations.

The price of 7 kg of onions was usually around 30 Afs at this time of the year.

"We used to have exports, but this year we don't have exports because we have less crops this year," TOLO News quoted Iqbal, a seller, as saying.

According to Bakhtiar, another seller, the lack of rain this year triggered drought conditions, leading to less crop yield across Afghanistan.