In Nashik, India, the area planted with kharif onions has dropped by 68% compared to last year, due to the delayed monsoon and the crash in the prices of summer onions.
The total area under kharif onion plantation in the district was projected at 20,584 hectares (ha), but only 3,434 ha (17%) has been planted so far. Last year, the area under kharif onion plantation was 11,000 ha by August-end.
Nanasaheb Patil, director, National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (Nafed), said the monsoon was delayed by a month this year. "Moreover, there was excess production of summer crop and prices crashed. Farmers are already incurring huge losses as they are unable to recover even their production cost. They don't have money for seeds and labour charges. This has led to the drop in the area under kharif plantation."
Last year, the area under kharif onion plantation declined by 28% to 14,371 ha due to the delay of the monsoon. The plantation shifted to late kharif following revival of the monsoon in September. The area of late kharif, which is close to 10,000 ha, increased to 51,567 ha. The total area under onion plantation of kharif and late kharif increased to 65,938 in 2015, against 30,000 ha in 2014.
The harvest of kharif crop planted in July and August begins from the second half of October and continues till December. The harvest of late kharif crop planted in September and October begins by the second half of December and continues till February-end. The harvest of summer crop begins by the time the harvest of late kharif ends.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
