WB Govt plans to achieve self-reliance in onion production

Kolkata, May 22: To achieve self-reliance in onion production, the West Bengal Government has taken up a plan for cultivation of this crop over 800 hectars of land covering eight districts during this monsoon.

"Cultivation of this monsoon variety of onion will take place in the districts of Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum, West Midnapore, Hooghly, North 24-Parganas, Nadia and Murshidabad," state's Food Processing and Horticulture Minister Subrata Saha said here today.

The minister said that willing farmers have already enlisted their names with the government department under this project.

The seeds of 'Agrifound Dark Red' breed onions would be supplied to the state by the National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF) at Nasik in Maharashtra, Saha said.

Under this project, the state government would extend 50 per cent loan with maximum Rs 10,000 per bigha to the farmers for the entire cultivation process, he said. Saha said that onion cultivation takes place mainly in the lands of ravi crops in the state.

At present the state produces about 3.05 lakh tonnes of onion at over 21,677 hectars of land, which was much lower than the state's demand of about 3.34 lakh tonnes, he said. "The yield is available here in March-April and it can be preserved in normal temperature for about five months.

For the rest period of the year, the state has to depend on its import from other states like Maharashtra and Karnataka," the minister said.

PTI