Meanwhile, 20-kg sacks of quality onions sold for Rs 400 each in the Navapura wholesale market, while an inferior variety went for Rs 200 per 20-kg bag. Potatoes sold for anything between Rs 200 and Rs 250 per 20 kg sack, depending on the quality.

In the Khanderao market, onions cost between Rs 15 and Rs 20 per kg, depending on the quality, while potatoes were available for between Rs 10 and Rs 16 per kg. However, retail shopkeepers and larriwallas in Raopura, Panigate and Karelibaug sold onions at almost double the price: between Rs 30 and Rs 35 per kg. Even damaged onions went for anything between Rs 15 and Rs 22 per kg.

The prices in the smaller markets, therefore, continue to belie the District Supply Office's attempts to undo the price-rise by pumping in onions in to the market through import and sale through the public distribution system.

When it was pointed out that prices had not fallen uniformly in the open market, District Supply Officer Ashok Singh said that prices had stabilised in the wholesale market, where onions and potatoes continued to be available for Rs 15 to Rs 20 a kg, as reported earlier. ``Even the retail markets have recorded a slide in prices'', he claimed, pointing out that the cost of the two vegetables had risen to Rs 50 to Rs 60 a kg sometime ago.

Singh said that because of the comparative difference in prices between last fortnight and today, the administration was wondering whether to continue onion and potato supplies to the public distribution system or not.

Meanwhile, prices of green vegetables, which had come down, went up on Thursday following poor supply from the nearby areas, according to Sukhdev Patel of Khanderao Market. Lady's finger (bhindi), which sold for Rs 12 on Wednesday, cost Rs 32 per kg on Thursday. Prices of other vegetables, including spinach, brinjals, and gourd also recorded an upward trend.