ગુજરાતી
English
Gandhinagar, 9 November 2020
In India, onion harvesting is done most of the winter in Gujarat. In other states, it occurs mostly in the monsoon. In winter, planting has been done on 38 to 40 thousand hectares. The average for the last 3 years under cultivation is 38827 hectares. This time, cannot be planted because, mostly burnt due to late rains. Therefore, onion cultivation will be very less in Bhavnagar, Amreli, Jamnagar, Rajkot.
6 percent production despite planting at 4 percent of the country
The farmers of Gujarat have produced the highest onion per hectare. The farmers of Bhavnagar grow the most onions per hectare in the whole of India. Gujarat, produced 24000 kg of onion per hectare, which is 17000 kg per hectare produced by the Indian farmer. Onions are grown in 1315200 hectares in the country of which Gujarat’s share is barely 4% but Gujarat produces 6% of the country’s onions. Thus, farmers have made the state of Gujarat proud throughout the country.
Farmers are skeptical about whether this record will be maintained this year.
A quintal can cost up to Rs 5,000.
Just as Lasalgaon in Maharashtra is the largest market for monsoon onion in Asia, Bhavnagar’s Mahuva is the largest winter onion market in Gujarat and India. The traders there also believe that onion cultivation is slow this time. Farmers can get a price of Rs 5,000 per quintal and on reaching consumers it can go up to Rs 10,000.
Not even 50 planted
Usually 800 hectares were planted in early November. This time it has been planted in barely 315 hectares. This is despite the current good weather for onions. Hence, prices will remain high as planting of onions at the beginning of winter season is not encouraging. The monsoon planting has also deteriorated in Maharashtra. Hence prices remain high. In summer and monsoon, it is not surprising that a kg of onion costs Rs 100 per kg.
Barely 5 lakh tons as against 11 lakh tons
The Agriculture Department expects 669430 tonnes of onions in 2018-19 and 1093760 tonnes in 2019-20. Like last year, this time also the production will be half of 11 lakh tonnes. The farmers do not have seed. They could not plant them. Farmers of Gujarat harvest 25 to 35 thousand kg per hectare. At this time productivity may increase slightly. Because where onion is planted, the crop looks good.
50% of Gujarat onion is planted in Bhavnagar district, situation is bad there
Last year, onions were planted on 29600 hectares in Bhavnagar. Which was about 48 percent of the state’s total 62400 hectares of land. This time in Bhavnagar, the onion sector has seen a decline. Hence there may be large reductions in production. Onions were planted on 5,000 hectares in Amreli, 3400 hectares in Junagadh, 3000 hectares in Morbi and 6100 hectares in Somnath. The situation in Bhavnagar is very bad.
Red Onion instead of Original
The main reason for the decline in production is that onion initially gets cool, moist air. Which he has not received. There is a big loss in Dharu. So if farmers sow seeds directly, red onion can grow. But the real yellow onion of Gujarat will be less. Onion is required in hot and dry air when the tubers are ready in the ground. It remains to be seen whether that atmosphere is found now. Dharu is harvested in September-October. It lasts for 6 to 7 weeks and is transplanted in November or December. Which has caused inconvenience.
Gujarat harvests most onions in February
Gujarat, Odisha and Sikkim are the states where onion crop is coming on the market in February. In other states, onions are not ready in February. It is grown on 1315000 hectares in India and produces 22 million tonnes. Thus, farmers of Gujarat have the largest production of onions in the country in February. Which will put more pressure on the markets of other states this year.
40 years ago
The onion crop is troubling people, although its productivity has doubled since 40 years ago. In 1979–80, 2.50 million tonnes of onions were grown on 0.24 million hectares. Today, 22 million tonnes of onions are grown on 1.32 million hectares. In 40 years, onion yield is 10 times more.
