Odisha stands 14th in potato production and 10th in onion harvest in the country, informed Agriculture and Farmer Empowerment Minister Pradeep Maharathy in the State Assembly on Thursday.
In response to a question of Dr Prafulla Majhi, the Minister said Uttar Pradesh topped all the States in potato production and Maharashtra in onion as per the 2013-14 statistics.
Uttar Pradesh produces 138.09 lakh tonne of potato followed by West Bengal 90.30 lakh tonne, Bihar 65.36 lakh tonne, Madhya Pradesh 23.22 lakh tonne, Gujarat 22.67 lakh tonne and Punjab 21.89 lakh tonne. Odisha stands 14 with 24.97 lakh tonne.
Similarly, Maharashtra produces highest 58.64 lakh tonnes of onion per annum followed by Madhya Pradesh 28.26 lakh tonne, Karnataka 20.66 lakh tonne, Gujarat 18.51 lakh tonne, Bihar 13.04 lakh tonne and Andhra Pradesh 10.04 lakh tonne. Odisha stands 10 th with 4.32 lakh metric tonne.
Regarding production of pulses and oilseeds, the Minister informed that Odisha produces 0.507 quintal/hectare against the national average of 0.724 quintal/hectare. The State produces 0.928 quintal of oilseed against national average of 1.153 quintal.
The main reason behind low production of pulses and oilseed is non-availability of quality seed compatible to the climate, he said.
In another question asked by MlA Dilip Ray, the Minister said the State has a total of 33 cold storages having 1,63,180-tonne capacity. However, he stated that his department has no information about how much potato kept stored in these storages during the last Kharif and Rabi seasons as the job does not come under it.