Maharashtra’s hopes for a bumper onion crop this year have been put to rest after erratic rain and hailstorm hit several onion-growing belts in Nashik.
The rainfall has badly impacted onion arrivals at Lasalgaon, the country’s largest market for the crop. According to data available with the National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation ( NHRDF), onion arrivals on Monday reduced to 7,600 quintals as against 18,465 quintals on March 4 and 14,235 quintals on March 5.
Average modal prices have been ranging between Rs 775 to Rs 950 over the week but officials predict a price rise by next week if the weather continues like this.
Senior officials at the Lasalgaon market committee said the assessment of the extent of the impact could take a week, adding that initial damage estimates to the crop could be to the tune of 30-40%.
Last week, the Maharashtra’s agriculture department said untimely rains had damaged crops such as grapes, onions, pomegranate and wheat in 6,000 hectares, causing losses worth around Rs 100 crore. According to Nashik district collector Vilas Patil, due to the model code of conduct, the government could provide financial aid to affected farmers only after seeking proper permission from the CEC.
According to BY Holkar, secretary, Lasalgaon APMC, farmers were expecting a bumper crop this year as they had planted more onion in anticipation of a good price.
However, the rains have caused damage to the rabi crop and if the water seeps into the fields where the onion crop is standing , the size could also be impacted. The total onion production has been estimated around 192 lakh mt this year against 168 lakh mt last year. The rabi crop is expected to be about 25% higher than the previous year.
However, RP Gupta, director, NHRDF, said as of today, the damage could be 5-10% since only 15-20% of the late kharif crop was remaining to be harvested.