Onion prices may rise further as monsoon rains have hit farmers' ability to pick the crop hard, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd's director C. B. Holkar cautioned.

After receding to Rs 50 per kilogram nearly two weeks back, onion prices have once again jumped to as high as Rs 80 per kilogram in many parts of India. Nearly, three months back, the vegetable was selling for Rs 20 per kilogram.

In order to bring the prices of the widely used vegetable, the government allowed its imports from Afghanistan, but the imports failed to ease the prices.

Speaking on the topic, Holkar said, "Onion prices may go up further as stockpiles in Maharashtra are fast depleting. Even some quantities imported from Afghanistan have not been able to lower prices."

According to official stats released on September 16, food prices jumped 18.2 per cent year-on-year in August this year, with onion prices increasing a whopping 245 per cent.

Onion is the key ingredient used in almost all dishes in India, ranging from curries to biriyani. The past has shown that onion has the power to change governments. The BJP's inability to control onion prices in 1998 had thrown it out of power in Delhi.