This kharif season, a bumper onion crop is expected in the Nashik district, India’s largest producer of onions. National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF) director RP Gupta says kharif production will either remain the same as last
year or even better than last year. Total onion production in the kharif season is estimated to be 4.5-5 million tonne. Last year, the country?s overall onion output was 19.5 million tonne.
“Kharif arrivals have begun in a small way in Solapur, Kolhapur in Maharashtra and Umrane Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Nashik district. In the south, kharif onion arrivals are in full swing in
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Arrivals are yet to begin in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh where sowing was delayed because of rains,” he said. Arrivals should begin in a steady manner from November, he added.
Last year at Nashik district, the average area under kharif and late kharif cultivation had almost doubled from an average 20,000 hectares to about 48,000 hectares. Fresh arrival in Karnataka mandis is around 40,00 to 50,000 quintals a day.
Gupta said onion sowing for the kharif season was
delayed by a few weeks in the absence of rain in most growing states, such as Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Nanasaheb Patil, chairman of Lasalgaon APMC, explained that while there is no specific data available on total acreage, the crop this time should be good since it has not been bogged down by disease and the climate has remained satisfactory.
“This is the ‘Pol’ variety of onion which will begin arriving in the market after Diwali This onion is perishable and cannot be stored so it is
used immediately, unlike the rabi or ‘Unhal’ variety which can be stored for around
six months,” he pointed out. “This Diwali has not been good for farmers who have had to face losses due to low onion prices, and 50% of the maize crop has also been affected,” he added.
With new kharif crop arrivals expected to begin in the markets by Diwali, farmers in Maharashtra were in a hurry to get rid of their existing stock.
Modal prices at Lasalgaon touched R1,400 per quintal on Friday with minimum price at R400 per quintal and the maximum at R1,776, with a total stock of 2,885 quintals arriving in the market.
Patil said the markets will remain closed for a week for Diwali and arrivals should begin to pick up after the festival. This year, the summer crop was badly affected because of unseasonal rains and hailstorms in February and March.
This led to damage of summer onions and affected its quality as well. The calamity also reduced the shelf life of summer onions to four or five months, forcing farmers to bring out stocks.