Several states from the North and East are attempting to reduce their dependence on Maharashtra and Gujarat for onion supplies. States such as Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha have decided to go in for kharif onion planting so that they are better prepared to deal with any onion shortage in September-October period, senior officials from the National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF) said.
According to NHRDF director RP Gupta, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha have been increasing their onion plantation and have begun purchasing seeds from the foundation. Although there is no data to back this, there is reason to believe that these states have increased onion plantation, he said.
Together these states hardly produce around 10% of the crop while Maharashtra alone supplies around 70% of the country’s requirements. NHRDF has centres at Patna and Kanpur that supply seeds to farmers in these states and some of the supplies are even done from Nashik, Gupta maintained, adding that as of today, the seed supply position is ok. Subject to the monsoon, the seed position is expected to remain normal, he said.
In Maharashtra, approximately 20% crop loss is expected due to untimely rains and hailstorms in March. Rabi onion yield is expected to be 16 tonne per hectare, according to reports by the Small Farmers Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC).
On Tuesday, 23,000 quintals of onions arrived at Lasalgaon, the country’s largest wholesale market for the crop, with the minimum prices at R600 per quintal and maximum at R1640 per quintal and modal price at R1,025 per quintal.
Gupta felt that prices will continue to remain normal.The meteorology department has said this year’s monsoon will be below average. However, it is expected to start on schedule. Onion sowing in Maharashtra is expected to begin next month. The stored stock is around 3.5 million tonne, which will continue to come to the market till kharif onion arrives.
As per a report by the NHRDF, the estimated area and production of onion (1st estimate) is around 11.92 lakh hectares and 193.57 lakh tonne, respectively which is little less in comparison with previous year area and production, i.e. 12.04 lakh hectares and 194.02 lakh tonne. Rabi onion area covered during the current season was around 5.70 lakh hectares area, which is 12% more compared to last year’s area of 5.07 lakh hectares. The harvesting of rabi onion crop started from April onwards and presently around 65% crop harvested in the country.
Remaining 35% crop will be harvested by end of May 2015. Total rabi onion production in the country is expected to be around 115-120 lakh tonne, which will be almost same to the last year.
Onion storage by farmers started from mid of April onwards in Maharashtra and Gujarat and mid-May onwards in northern parts i.e. UP, Bihar, Haryana and Rajasthan.
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