Unicaus NEWS
Maharashtra rains: Onion growers begin preparations for the Rabi season a yr prematurely, with the nursery being prepare in August-September 2024 and replantation carried out from November (2024) to January (2025).
Nagpur:
Pre-monsoon rains in numerous parts of Maharashtra given that beginning of May have elevated the troubles of the state’s onion cultivators, who’re already harassed about falling prices of the kitchen staple. Onion crops on 1000’s of acres have been damaged throughout the rains, leaving farmers observing heavy losses, Maharashtra State Onion Producers Farmers Association founder-president Bharat Dighole knowledgeable the media. The hurt in precise phrases is however to be ascertained as a result of the rains proceed and panchnamas (spot analysis) haven’t been carried out, he lamented.
These onion-producing areas have been witnessing unseasonal rains since May 6-
Konkan Nashik Pune Kolhapur Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Latur Amravati Nagpur “Unseasonal rains have lashed onion-growing districts of Dhule, Nashik, Ahilyanagar, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Pune, Solapur, Beed, Dharashiv, Akola, Jalna, Buldhana, and Jalgaon. Prices were already down and have further slumped due to unseasonal rains,” he said. He said throughout the Lasalgaon market, as of May 20 (Tuesday), the everyday worth was Rs 1,150 per quintal.
Onion growers begin preparations for the Rabi season a yr prematurely, with the nursery being prepare in August-September 2024 and replantation carried out from November (2024) to January (2025), Dighole outlined.
“Farmers who have harvested the crop before March this year have got good yield per acre, and those harvesting in April-May haven’t been lucky, as the crop has faced excessive heat and unseasonal rains. Several farmers do not have storage facilities, and those who store their produce in the fields have been worst affected in the rains since May 6,” he recognized.
The harvested crops of these farmers have become moist, whereas even standing crops have been damaged in a number of areas, Dighole added. In 2022-23, onion cultivation was on 5,53,212 hectares, whereas in 2023-24, it was on 4,64,884 hectares, and in 2024-25, on a doc 6,51,965 hectares, he said. Dighole said Nashik is the most important onion-producing space throughout the nation, and in 2024-25, the crop was cultivated on 2,90,136 hectares, whereas it was on 1,67,285 hectares in 2023-24 and a pair of,48,417 hectares in 2022-23.
Despite bans being imposed by the Union authorities at occasions since 2019, exports have been robust and launched in substantial earnings, with Maharashtra being the primary state throughout the nation on this regard, he recognized.
“In 2018-19, 21.83 lakh tonnes of onions were exported, bringing in Rs 3,468 crore in foreign currency. In 2019-20, 11.49 lakh tonnes were exported, and the revenue was Rs 2,320 crore. It was 15.73 lakh tonnes and Rs 3,432 crore in 2021-22, and in 2022-23, we exported 25.25 lakh tonnes of onions and earned Rs 4,522 crore. The figure was 17.17 lakh tonnes and Rs 3,922 crore for 2023-24,” he said, giving nationwide figures.
The Union authorities ought to make public the yearly output needed throughout the nation so that farmers can plan accordingly and further produce may very well be exported.
“In such a scenario, there will be no scarcity, and consumers can get affordable onions. When onion prices rise, the government steps in to control it by levying export duty, minimum export prices and banning exports. Farmers suffer because of it,” Dighole asserted.
(With companies inputs)
