Nashik/Mumbai, Sep 14 (IANS) Onion prices in Maharashtra have shot up yet again this week due to a supply crunch owing to growers' refusal to market their yield in protest against a ban on exports imposed last week, an onion dealer said Wednesday.

"The wholesale prices of onions have shot up by more than 50 percent, while the retail prices have gone up by 80 percent this week as compared to the last week," Sohanlal Bhandari, president of onion exporters' association, told IANS.

Onion markets throughout the state, especially in Nashik which contributes to 60 percent of the country's onion requirement, remained closed for the fifth day after onion growers refused to sell their produce in protest against the export ban.

Bhandari said the farmers have been holding up a huge amount of their produce as their cost of production was not being met.

The Agricultural Produce Market Committee in Navi Mumbai saw a reduction in the supply of onions by more than 50 percent Wednesday.

"The farmers have been refusing to sell their produce as they are not fetching the desired rates. We are unable to procure required amount of onions forcing us to hike the rates," Inderchand Chopra, a wholesale dealer of onions in Nashik, told IANS.

Vegetable markets in the onion-producing region of Lasalgaon in Nashik district remained closed since Friday demanding that the ban be lifted.

On Monday, farmers from major onion-growing districts joined the strike, refusing to bring their produce to the APMC market for auction.

Traders have demanded that the ban on exports be lifted as there was considerable production to cater to the domestic demand.

In the Mumbai wholesale market, onions cost Rs.13-15 a kg. In the retail market, their price was Rs.20-22 a kg.