Onion sowing picks up in Maharashtra owing to good rainfall

The sowing of onion in Maharashtra which is still lagging for the current kharif season compared to that of the last, has vigorously picked up last week due to consistent rainfall in the state.

Maharashtra is the largest producer of onion in the country and is one of the primary determinants of the wholesale and retail prices of the crop in the country.

As per official data, the current year sowing in the state week before last was 1,717 hectares (ha) which has gone up to 12,258 ha by end of last week, registering a rise of almost 613%. In comparison to the sowing of the crop for the same period last year 2013, the current sowing was lagging by almost 30% going by the sowing of the crop for the week ended August 14, 2014. However, by the end of last week, the sowing area has improved and the differential over last year’s sowing in the same period  has come down to just  19%.  

While the crop sowing till end of last week of August in 2013 was 34,165 ha, for 2014 same period it is recorded at 33298 ha, 40% higher than total crop sowing recorded week before week before last.     

As per official information, an area of 1,34,774 hectares of onion crop was affected by hailstorm during early this year, 2014 in the state. The State Government assessed that more than 50% of area of the Rabi onion was affected due to hailstorm and unseasonal rains.

However the state is quite hopeful of good a crop in the late kharif season crop.  Besides the central government has asked ‘early Kharif’ producing states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to bring more area under onion cultivation to enhance overall production of onion, said officials.

To enhance the production and productivity of vegetables including onion, the state receives various types of support from the centre for seed production, vegetable cultivation in open fields under schemes of Integrated Nutrient Management (INM)/ Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and organic farming. Assistance is also extended for constitution of low cost onion storage structure to prevent post harvest losses. Besides, the scheme provides for setting up markets at different levels viz. wholesale, rural/apni Mandi, retail markets and even vending carts. Government is also implementing scheme on Vegetable Initiative for Urban Clusters (VIUC) under the overall aegis of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) which covers these activities. In addition, the Integrated Scheme for Agriculture Marketing (ISAM) also provides for creation of post harvest infrastructure including storage.

State governments have also been asked to exempt fruits and vegetables from the purview of the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act to enable direct sale of fruits and vegetables by the farmers, said officials.