harp spike in retail onion prices towards the end of 2013, a large number of farmers in Gujarat are moving towards the crop this year — onion sowing in the state has increased 417 per cent compared with the same period last year.As on Monday, the rabi onion had been sown on 72,500 hectares, compared with 14,000 hectares during the corresponding period last rabi season. Onions are cultivated in both kharif and rabi seasons.
R S Gupta, director of Nashik-based National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF), says other major states that grow the rabi onion, such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal, are likely to see a 15-20 per cent increase in sowing area.
“It has been seen over the years that when a particular crop fetches good prices, farmers tend to turn to that crop the next season. The same thing has happened with the onion,” said Deepak Patel, secretary of the Ahmedabad Agriculture Produce Marketing Cooperative (APMC).
Last year, retail prices of onion had touched Rs 100 a kg in a few urban centres, forcing the government to intervene. The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India had issued tenders to import at the end of August. However, even after imports of 400 tonnes, prices had not cooled until December.
However, the increase in sowing, and the likely production rise thereof, could suppress prices.
