The State Government of Bhubaneswar plans to achieve self-sufficiency in onion production this year by encouraging farmers to take up late production of the commodity. Onion is a winter crop in Odisha and harvesting of the vegetable starts from March. Though the State has been producing a surplus of onions, the vegetable is sold out during the harvesting season due to the lack of storage facilities.
Farmers of western Odisha districts including Boudh, Balangir, Kalahandi and Nuapada have been successfully growing the crop during kharif and late kharif for the last few years. Since the area of coverage is very small, the Government wants to promote this practice and scale up the area of cultivation, sources in the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) said.
The State usually faces a shortage of onions from September to next harvest in March-April.
To encourage the farmers to take up kharif cultivation of onions, the Horticulture Department will provide quality seeds and financial assistance under Rashtriya Krishi Vikash Yojana (RKVY).
Separate assistance will also be provided for the construction of low cost onion storage facilities.
In the last two years, onion prices have exceeded Rs50 per kg at least four times.
