Onion prices may have brought tears to the eyes of the consumers, but Punjab Government wants its farmers to happily make money while the tearjerker remains unaffordable.
Punjab Government on Wednesday decided to launch a project aiming at increasing the onion productivity in the State so that “onion prices could remain control and the farmers could also earn good profit”.
“The productivity of onion can be increased and its availability can be ensured throughout the year by bringing more area under cultivation and improving crop’s quality as well as by providing proper storage facilities to the farmers,” said the State Horticulture Director Gurkanwal Singh.
For the purpose, a study has been conducted under the supervision of Central Government’s Department of Agriculture’s Additional Director (Horticulture) Dr M Tamil Selvan and experts from Punjab Agriculture University, ludhiana. “And a survey has also been conducted,” he said.
Singh said that presently, the covered area under onion cultivation is 8400 hectare and total production was 1.85 lakh tonnes in the State.
“Total production of onion in Punjab, including its neighbouring States Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan, is 8.9 lakh tonnes and demand is 25.50 lakh tonnes approximately,” he pointed.
The survey revealed that there are 560 cold stores functioning in Punjab, which has total capacity of 20 lakh tonnes for storage of onion.
“The experts of Punjab Agriculture University have also been asked to develop new and high yielding and durable cultivation of onion so that farmers could be attracted towards its cultivation for their benefits,” said Singh.