The onion crisis sweeping the state of Maharashtra may reduce to some extent from late January onwards, after harvesting the late kharif (winter) crop. The area under cultivation has already surpassed that of the last year for the same period.
Onion sowing statistics from the state agriculture department show that the area used for late kharif onion sowing till November 11 is up by approximately 9,400 hectare in the state in comparison with the same period last year. The harvests from this sowing will come out from January, officials said, which is likely to bring down the prices.
Rabi (summer) sowing of onions in the state is also likely to touch 290,000 hectare for 2019-20 as against 266,000 hectare in 2018-19.
A state agriculture department official told that the area growing onion has increased for the late kharif season.
Another reason for an increase in the area growing onions in the current season is the high prices that the vegetable is fetching currently in the markets. Currently, onions are being sold at a high cost of Rs 80 per kg in the retail market and Rs 1,500-Rs 5,800 (€19.50-75.40) per 100 kgs in the wholesale market. Traders said this has been one of the steepest rise in onion prices in several years.
