Kharif onion cultivation doubles in Nashik dist

Nashik: Kharif onion cultivation in the district, which is known as a major onion hub in the country, has doubled this year compared to 2023 becoming 30,000 hectares.
The state agriculture department is expecting around 6lakh metric tonnes of onion production this kharif season, the arrival of which is expected by mid-October.
Last year, the kharif onion cultivation was done on 16,000 hectares with a production of 3.2lakh metric tonnes of onions.
Usually, the cultivation the season's onions takes place during the July-Sept, and its harvest begins in the second half of Oct and continues until Dec. The cultivation of late kharif onions begins in the Oct-Nov, and harvest begins in January and continues till mid-March.
State agriculture department officials said that the cultivation had been affected due to a lack of adequate rain last season. However, the weather condition is favourable this time.
The bumper kharif production is expected to bring down the wholesale onion prices from the present Rs4,700 per quintal to below Rs2,000 per quintal. Unlike summer onions, kharif onions have a shelf life of less than a month. Hence, farmers have no option but to sell the produce at the prevailing market rates.
Presently, the onions arriving at the wholesale markets are summer onions, harvested in March-April this year. The summer onions have a shelf life of around six-seven months and farmers prefer storing summer onions with the hope of getting a better price for their produce. They bring their summer produce to sell in the markets as per their requirement for money.
But the stock of summer onions with farmers and traders is about to exhaust. The arrivals of onions at Lasalgaon APMC, the country's largest wholesale onion market, have declined by around 50%. Usually, the daily arrivals of onions at Lasalgaon are around 15,000 quintals a day on average, but presently arrivals of summer onions at Lasalgaon APMC are around 5,000 to 7,000 quintals a day.
Bharat Dighole, president of the Maharashtra Onion Growers Association, said that the Centre should keep onion export free from any restrictions. There is still a 20% duty on onion export, which we want the Centre to withdraw.