State to increase onion production

The Horticulture department will soon take up a programme to increase production of onion in Karnataka and reduce dependence on the bulb from other states. In 2012-13, onion was sown in 1.95 lakh hectares across the State and the total production stood at 23.95 lakh metric tonnes. Karnataka is the second largest producer of onion in the country, yet the irony is that 85 per cent of the State’s total production is sown during kharif season and harvested in October - November. These onions have low preservation levels and perish within one month. As a result, Karnataka has to depend on neighbouring Maharashtra for most of its onion demand for most part of the year (February to September). In Maharashtra, onion is sown during rabi season and harvested during summer and the yield can be preserved for a much longer period (because of the dry season). Any shortage of onion in Maharashtra results in prices climbing northwards. "We have held two rounds of meetings with various stakeholders and will put in place an action plan to increase production of onion particularly in the rabi season. We plan to take up the programme on a mission mode,” Horticulture Director D L Maheswar said. Onion crop of the kharif season is sown in the districts of Chitradurga, Bagalkot, Dharwad, Bijapur, Belgaum and Gadag and harvested during October-November. The total production during the season in 2012-13 was 19.56 metric tonnes. The rabi crop is grown in the districts of Bijapur, Bagalkot, Chamarajnagar, Gulbarga, Gadag and Koppal and production stood at 3.09 lakh metric tonnes. Dr Maheswar said various universities, research organisations like National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation, state-run seed corporations would be involved in the programme.   Deccan Herald