Kharif onion cultivation – a profitable venture for farmers

Nauni (Himachal Pradesh), October 29, 2019: Onion crop is harvested only once in Himachal Pradesh while at the same time farmers of Maharashtra have been taking three crops. This has made the state heavily dependent on other states for meeting the requirement of onion often causing the prices go beyond the reach of common people. Taking note of this, scientists of Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni worked towards an appropriate alternative- the cultivation of Kharif onion. Kharif onion can not only save the farmers and the general public from the sting of inflation but can also be a better option to increase the income of the farmers provided that the farmers adopt its cultivation techniques through the scientific method. The Kharif onion crop reaches the market at a time when the general public is plagued by increasing prices of onions. Dr Deepa Sharma, Vegetable Scientist at the University’s College of Horticulture and Forestry (COH&F), Neri, Hamirpur has been working on a Rs 20.43 lakh project sanctioned two years ago by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi for popularizing Kharif onion cultivation in Chamba district of the state. University scientists Dr Rajveev Raina and Dr Sanjeev Kumar Banyal are associated with the project as Co-Investigators. Under the project 245 demonstrations on farm fields, 14 training programmes have been organised in the last two years, which have benefitted 362 farmers. Keeping in view the growing demand and profit of Kharif onion, the university wants to extend its cultivation to all suitable areas of the state. The experiments conducted in District Chamba have yielded encouraging results. The farmers can replant setts during the second week of August sell green onion bulbs from the second week of October. So this Kharif onion comes in the market at the time when onion prices shoot up. This crop is ready for harvesting from last week of November to the first week of December. The Kharif crop is harvested at a time when the prices of onion are high and therefore the crop can be sold easily at Rs 50/kg from the farmer field itself. The farmers can obtain a yield of six quintals from one quintal setts and earn up to Rs 30000. This will meet the requirement of people. Dr Parvinder Kaushal, Vice-Chancellor called upon the farming community to take Kharif onion cultivation as an enterprise. Praising the work done by the scientists associated with the project, Dr Kaushal urged them to popularize the commercial cultivation of the crop in the state. Dr JN Sharma, Director Research, Dr PC Sharma, Dean COH&F and other faculty of the university lauded the efforts of the scientists and stressed to take the technology to maximum farm fields.