The Interprofessional Senegalese Onion Producer Group (IPOS) intends to commercialise 400,000 tons of onions over the 2015 season. The group’s President, Mamadou Ba said that 2014 was “a success” with a record production of 290,000 tons of local onion. He spoke at a meeting evaluating the 2013/2014 season, where forecasts for 2015 were also covered. Mr Ba reminded the sector that the Head of State, Macky Sall, had demanded on Onion Day in June 2014 that total production reached 350,000 tons.
“We are aiming towards doubling onion production. We even risk over production, with regard to the quantity of seeds sown by producers in the onion sector this year” says Mr Ba who believes that onion planting has increased by 60 to 80% compared to last year.
Mr Ba says that the new harvests should be available on the market as of the 25th January. He also said that the IPOS would carry out an evaluation of the main production zones, looking at the maturity of fields for more detailed forecasts on future production. According to Mr Ba, the Minister of Commerce’s decision concerning onion imports will be based on the results of this evaluation.