To deal with the onion crisis, the State Government is all set to launch an Onion Mission soon.
Under the mission, emphasis would be given on opening of cold storages across the State to preserve onions thereby streamlining the price hike. Seeds and loans would be ensured to the farmers also under the mission.
Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy told reporters here that though the State has been producing nearly 1 lakh metric tonnes onion per year than the demand but due to the lack of storage facility the same are not being utilised.
“The demand of the State is 2.97 metric tonnes while 3.95 MT onions are being produced per annum in Odisha. lack of cold storage facility is badly affecting the preservation leading to price rise of onions,” said the Minister.
Majority of the requirement is sourced from outside the State, mainly from West Bengal and Maharashtra.
He maintained that to overcome such issues the State Government is contemplating to launch Onion Mission like the Potato Mission.
Sources said around 300 cold storages would be set up across the State particularly in onion cultivated areas. Now, onion is being sold at `50 to `60 per kg in the State.